Verizon?s Voice Link ploy running into its own superstorm

In the wake of coastal damage from Superstorm Sandy, Verizon has attempted to eliminate landline service from seafront communities like Fire Island, New York. Then, the company tried to impose the same change on the upstate Catskill region.

Although the wireless Voice Link arrangement may save Verizon money, it will certainly give customers reduced, less reliable service. And groups from CWA to the state attorney general’s office and the AARP have raised strenuous objections.

Last week, as Speed Matters noted, “the NY State Attorney General’s office asked the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) to stop Verizon from ‘illegally installing’ the devices.”

In addition, CWA filed a 22 page brief with the PSC on behalf of landline customers and its 68,000 state members, saying, “Voice Link is a significant step backwards for customers who have traditional copper wired telecommunications service and a complete abdication of Verizon NY’s promises to modernize its telecommunications network.”

Since late May, hundreds of individual subscribers have written in to the PSC. For instance, today, one Stuart Mono wrote:

“We are residents of Fair Harbor, Fire Island and have been severely impacted by Verizon's decision to abandon wired phone service here. Our options for alternate service are very limited since our home is on the south (ocean) side of the island. Cell service is extremely undependable.  Some days we get reasonable service but many other days, especially weekends and holidays, we get virtually none.”

Other comments are similar.

This week, AARP spoke for its 2.7 million New York members and is urging the PSC to reject Verizon’s proposal. According to Beth Finkel, State Director for AARP in New York, “Under the cover of Sandy, this push by Verizon could well work towards advancing the company’s corporate strategy of steering customers towards more expensive services, but that doesn’t match up to protecting the needs and interests of consumers.”

The AARP laid out five succinct objections to the Voice Link move:

• Threatens Public Safety
• Opens Door to Eliminating Landlines Statewide
• Could Lead to Abandoning Reliable Landline Service Prematurely
• Eliminates Internet Options
• No “0”perator access

Read the objections in more detail here.

Speed Matters and CWA welcome the support of the AARP and urge the New York Public Service Commission to reject the Verizon proposal.

Verizon’s Landline Fight Heads to the Catskills (Speed Matters, Jun. 28, 2013)

Comments of CWA to the NY PSC (Jun., 2013)

Tariff filing by Verizon New York Inc. to... discontinue its current wireline service offerings (NY Public Service Commission, 2013)

Verizon Draws AARP Opposition Over Move to Eliminate Landlines in NY (AARP, Jul. 1, 2013)