said by Jodokast96 :

And wasn't it mostly sub-contractors screwing things up in the beginning, like cut utilities, property damage, etc.?

said by cableties :

This is about the installation, not the prep (ground, pole, underground...) which the subcontractors already did (or messed up depending on who said what).

said by vz fiostech 21 :

This "news" article is full of crap, normal for Karl's telco bashing style. First of I am in California and last time I checked we are union employee's, so I don't know where that comment about west coast's higher productivity is due to non-union comes from is pure BS.

said by Karl Bode :

Thank you!

said by vz fiostech 21 :

This "news" article is full of crap, normal for Karl's telco bashing style. First of I am in California and last time I checked we are union employee's, so I don't know where that comment about west coast's higher productivity is due to non-union comes from is pure BS.

There are many reasons why numbers come out the way they do. In reading some of the reviews I noticed that the techs that work in the east coast are having to place their own service drops. In our area, we don't place the service drops to customers homes, they are pre-installed before we get there or we call out a contractor to climb the poles for us while we concentrate on the inside work.

Second, I also read that they fish walls and do all this extra crap, guess what it doesn't happen over here. Want your walls fished, hire someone before we get there or do it yourself. Since the east coast guys do fish walls it obviously takes a lot longer to do a job.

The other factors that go in, every house is different, a lot of the new construction already has a smart panel built in by builder, so I can come in and be done with a triple-play in 1 hour 30 min.

The biggest factor that would be skewing those number would be that when I finish that job in 3 hours and I go help out one of my fellow co-workers I have to do it by applying those hours to the job I just did, so while I may have been done in 3 hours the paperwork will show that job being done in 5-7 hours. The copper side had help tickets to cover your time on tech assistance but on fiber you just have to absorb your time on whatever job you happen to be on. That is what messes up your so-called productivity.

For those of you that call for contractors, go ahead, because the way the system works, I get one job completion credit whether it is a repair or install and I would rather spend my time on repair than installations. I have gone out on repair issues from subcontractors, in and out in 30 minutes or less, love it, simple problems to fix. Why you ask, because some of the sub-contractors previous employment was landscaping which is how then ended up laying wire.

said by Cheese :

Pay the fuck attention, The report claims the installers in the western U.S. are non-union (something our commenters say isn't true), and the installers in the east are unionized and "dragging their feet" because they "don't want FiOS to succeed." Karl didn't claim that, the report did, some of you people need to learn how to read

said by tater_gunz :

You may be wasting your time, Cheese. Union workers generally have union jobs for a reason...

- Tate

said by Tech_Guy :

Yeah, because we were smart enough to pass interviews and testing."This does not apply to public employee unions" douche bags

said by cymbolkid :

So considering i go through alot more training than my non union conterparts I DO DESERVE MY PAY AND MORE BENIFITS!!!

said by supertech315 :

Dude when i took the test 12 of us passed out of 80, so get the idea........

said by Cheese :

Pay the fuck attention, The report claims the installers in the western U.S. are non-union (something our commenters say isn't true), and the installers in the east are unionized and "dragging their feet" because they "don't want FiOS to succeed." Karl didn't claim that, the report did, some of you people need to learn how to read

said by Tech_Guy :

Sorry cheese but I think he was too busy boning your mom to listen above her screaming

said by chemaupr :

I have to agree. If your pay is not tied to your production they have not much incentive to move faster.

said by brainlessdog :

The last Comcast Tech to my house was a contractor. They gave him 3 jobs in the 3pm to 5pm window. He said the regular techs do about half the number of jobs per day. I am assuming this is the same for Fios in the west.

said by aaron8301 :

NOT four techs at the customer premises, four people involved in the entire process, i.e. one tech at customer's house, one tech in data center to "flip the switch" to make the line active, one tech to do something on the pole, etc.

I'm really don't know how the process works, I'm just trying to explain what I think he meant by saying a POTS install takes four techs.

said by kenyg :

Mine took 4hrs. There was one guy, he climbed the pole across the street, hooked it up, ran the the cable, installed... he was pretty busy. Was very knowledgable, bright young guy. Did a good job.