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Comments on news posted 2013-07-08 11:16:43: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has joined a chorus of voices concerned about Verizon's refusal to repair the DSL lines of Sandy victims, and the broader ramifications involved in Verizon's severing of copper lines (still a necessary util.. ..

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elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to intok

Member

to intok

Re: Fine is not just $100,000/day

said by intok:

Wrong, they are gouging on the price, as is the case with all hardwire ISPs.

If this were the case, then market forces would have responded, over the past seven years, and challenged Verizon's "monopoly" status.

The price Verizon asks, is indeed, too high for the majority of potential buyers, but that doesn't translate to gouging.
intok (banned)
join:2012-03-15

intok (banned)

Member

The market forces are price fixing, collusion and extreme greed.

Yapoo
@att.net

Yapoo to scaredpoet

Anon

to scaredpoet
>My only choices now are cable, or 3Mbps DSL... at least as long
>as the copper is good in my area. If... no, WHEN, it degrades
>I highly doubt Verizon will lift a finger to repair it.

You are 110% correct. I had an issue with POTS ~4 years back. After many phone calls to complain, numerous techs working on the line - sos, nothing really changed much.

Finally after more compliants, one of the supervisors who knew what was going on, actually called me (on the qt) to explain what happened. It seems Verizon replaced a bunch of copper line at a large junction box down the street from me that my calls and my internet connection was on.

It allowed them to get more traffic for less cost. They replaced the older thicker copper with smaller copper! More lines per cable. His words, not mine. So I was now hearing cross talk and the internet connection was more prone to noise.

He suggested I wait for FIOS (it's not coming to my area and when it does $$$) but that Verizon was never going to use more expensive cable when they could use cheaper stuff and get more bang for their buck. From a business pov I can understand that. However, they are screwing the public.

Some of us only have POTS or are on fixed or low incomes. What this will eventually do is remove many of the minorites, low income, etc... people from the loop (I've been beating this drum for years now). The local library is even now quite crowded with people using the high speed internet access. Sometimes you wait in line to access the PC. It'll only get worse.

The future looks bleak if you can't fork over the $$$ for phone, TV or internet service. Great way to eliminate the poor, from my point of view, from being more informed or educated. Other than ota TV and radio (nothing but spam and junk programming), you're locked out just so the corporates can make greater profits, to be better able to better bribe politicians, who will pass laws to further restrict you. Life goes on.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to intok

Member

to intok
Greed dictates that a competitor would enter the fray and try to take a swath of the "excessive" profits, whatever those are.

That's effectively what the cable broadband industry has done, and the result is we have cheaper and faster service in over 90% of the country.
intok (banned)
join:2012-03-15

intok (banned)

Member

You don't think they didn't? »Telcos Vastly Overcharge Government for Snooping

They've found the current max they can charge on top of other often required services and fees where they will nickel and dime ever more money.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

You are overlooking a couple of things

State Commerce Commissions and Public Utility Boards are state created regulatory groups that handle customer complaints, anti-competition issues, and regulate such things as fees for utility companies that provide lights, gas, and landlines for telephones. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, Cox, Century Link, Time Warner, and others like them are lobbying to destroy all committees that have oversight while they quietly disconnect POTS, overcharge rural customers and add below the line fees to maximize profit while advertising low rates.

Cellular devices, DSL, FIOS, FTTH, cable, etc., is neither a landline nor a regulated utility. NO landlines mean no regulations for Wireles Verizon and its pal Comcast. They can do as they please with no oversight. And they do. Sandy is a good example. Just because politicians and companies lie to each other, does not mean a company cannot be brought to heel, or that a state cannot include the word telephone to also mean any VoIP or wireless device used to communicate with another, that is offered by a company dba Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, Cox, Century Link, Sprint, Time Warner, et al.

Right now Telco and Cable are building the better mouse trap while legislators - who do not understand how telco and cable companies operate in the dark - sleep at their desks.

The NY AG should bust up the party with a federal suit citing the partner ship constitutes a violation of the Sherman Act, and its ultimate attempt is to be deceitful to the people of the State of New York. At the same time all state legislators should clearly define who/what is a telephone provider, and who/what is a cable provider, so there is no misunderstandings as to who does what or how they may do it. It will be a landmark test case to see who 'blinks' first.

DAOWAce
join:2006-10-25
Flanders, NJ

DAOWAce

Member

Verizon needs to change

Verizon is the reason it took 12 days to restore power in my county after the hurricane damages. They refused to cooperate with the power companies and refused to let them touch the poles they owned. After an exceedingly long period of time they gave up waiting and just installed brand new poles right next to the ones with damage. The old poles are still there, and I don't see them being removed anytime soon. (Hell, some areas still have damage cleanup that hasn't been done and there's STILL some lines either sagging or on/near the damn ground in stretches without houses.)

Their refusal to comply is destroying not only their company, but hurting so many people who don't even have anything to do with their services.

They need to shift fully over to Fiber and get rid of their old services; preferably by selling them off to another company who actually cares about supporting people instead of increasing their own profits.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to intok

Member

to intok

Re: Fine is not just $100,000/day

said by intok:

You don't think they didn't? »Telcos Vastly Overcharge Government for Snooping

They've found the current max they can charge on top of other often required services and fees where they will nickel and dime ever more money.

Those charges aren't necessarily excessive, given the allegedly infrequency of the service orders and the special handling required.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Sandy

The biggest problem with Sandy is the number 600. It is not enough reasons for Verizon to invest in a restoration project.

Voice Link is a voice only one-trick pony. Telco often does this when working with major building projects where phone and power lines must be moved. such as he Brooklyn Bridge. Simply put local residents can call, surf and FAX in and out. Outsiders can only call in, thus if you are a resident working a 100 miles away from home you can call your wife, but you cannot access your Internet to FAX, share, etc..

Verizon is well aware of how long it will take before they are in court.

What the state can do however, is terminate all Verizon services statewide and demand they remove all poles, all copper lines, all office equipment in every plant in every place in the state. It may be a big mess, but it will be a lingering message to telco and their Bully-Boy tactics. VZN needs to remember AT&T did it first and they're the best a deploying.
linicx

linicx to telcodad

Premium Member

to telcodad

Re: New Jersey's PSC may not be thrilled about Voice Link either

The landline-to-wireless scheme is useless without the copper landline. Everyone forgets one irrefutable fact. When everything else fails the wired copper landline phone works. Ma Bell has always been there to answer the calls with the exception of major weather events like Hurricane Sandy and massive flooding like NYC experienced.

Public Utility Commissions control utility cost. The state legislature can deny an application, revoke a license to operate, and not allow a company to collect fees.

If Verizon wants to play hardball let them so be it. However, the customers will not be held liable for any charges incurred until their land line, internet, and FAX capabilities are restored to the same pre-Sandy level of service or better.

I personally think if VZN does not restore service to Sandy victims it should not be allowed to operate in the State of New Jersey under the company name Verizon or any of its aliases.
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