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Some Get Fios, Others Get Neglected Copper
West Virginia PSC complains of neglect

The West Virginia Public Service Commission's consumer advocate division says that while Verizon is spending billions to upgrade lucrative markets to Fios, they're pulling resources from West Virginia infrastructure to help do so.

"In rural areas of the state, miles of cable lie exposed in creek beds, along the ground or otherwise unprotected, according to officials with the state Public Service Commission’s consumer advocate division. Even on Loudon Heights Road in Charleston wiring on one telephone pole was insulated in nothing more than a garbage bag for at least half a year. Customer complaints are rising, and business clients have alleged Verizon is cutting regulatory corners."
"To finance expansions in New York and northern Virginia, it’s pulling money and resources from West Virginia, where it doesn’t face competition," says Patrick Pearlman, a lawyer in the advocate’s office. Complaints against the telco in the state have shot up 60 percent from 2001 to 2005, and are on track to be higher again this year.

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BK3
join:2001-04-10
Geneva, IL

BK3

Member

Of course they are ...

Right or wrong, whether you like it or not, any big corp will naturally dump more money into lucrative areas and neglect that has little or no ROI, unless forced to.

This is not saying that I agree, it is just the way things are.

CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium Member
join:2004-11-12

1 recommendation

CableTool

Premium Member

Who knows....

I dont know if it is actually pulling money and resources from other areas.
Who is to say, FIOS or not, if that area would be in better shape? It could have been neglected and stayed neglected for some time regardless of what Verizon has going on.

In other news..
HOW DARE YOU POST A NEGATIVE ARTICLE ABOUT FIOS AND VERIZON DSLR!!!!

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Who knows....

I think if its being 'neglected', than some competition should move in. Wether its cable, muni-wifi or WiMax, or even 3G cellular. If people don't like the service, they'll look somewhere else. I know I did.
I didn't take Comcast, as they were Waay overpriced ($60/month unbundled HSI, while Timewarner will do it for $45), TW took too long to take over Comcast here, so I went for DSL/SBC/ATT/DSLExtreme

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins to CableTool

MVM

to CableTool
said by CableTool:

In other news..
HOW DARE YOU POST A NEGATIVE ARTICLE ABOUT FIOS AND VERIZON DSLR!!!!
ROFL!!!

We all know Verizon is without faults... right?

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

don't like it? then do something about it


West Virginia: don't just whine about it. Do something to change the situation like fine Verizon, revoke their license to do business in the state, confiscate their resources and have the state run it. Or sell it to a competitor.

herdfan
Premium Member
join:2003-01-25
Hurricane, WV

herdfan

Premium Member

Re: don't like it? then do something about it

said by morbo:

Do something to change the situation like fine Verizon, .....confiscate their resources and have the state run it.
Oh good, God NO!!!

I have no issues with my Verizon service although I wish they would activate my RT with DSL so I can drop cable. Service where I have has been very good, but I also live in the county with the second highest per capita income in the state.

But one of my softball teammates is a line-splice tech with Verizon and he told me about the OT ban, so that part is true.
Josimars
join:2001-04-24
Port Chester, NY

Josimars

Member

Lots of Competition

Pity you guys in Westr Virginia, and I don't know if it is true that Verizon is neglecting you but one thing for sure they are having to compete ferociously for customers here in New York and its is only going to get worse.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler

Premium Member

Re: Lots of Competition

Yeeg. Some of the wiring photos on the articles are damn well neglectful at best, and almost beg for Murphy's Law to give them a good thrashing. I mean, wrapping a T1 along a private highway fence? Using a trash bag for insulation instead of proper housing? That's just damn shameful matinenance there.
dsless
join:2001-05-16
Pittsburgh, PA

dsless

Member

Re: Lots of Competition

South Hills is a very nice area in Charleston.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler

Premium Member

Re: Lots of Competition

said by dsless:

South Hills is a very nice area in Charleston.
Either way, not properly placing wire and/or using inadequate insulation for equipment is piss-poor matinence, nomatter where it happens.
madrhino
join:2004-07-03

madrhino to Thaler

Member

to Thaler
said by Thaler:

That's just damn shameful matinenance there.
Verizon has no shame.

Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium Member
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL

Maxo

Premium Member

An idea

Take those areas that need to be repaired and just upgrade them.
dsless
join:2001-05-16
Pittsburgh, PA

dsless

Member

Had terrible service from Verzion for 8 years

And this news article is nothing new........And WV will not do much about it. Force Verizon's hand and suddenly Verizon of WV has a for sale sign in the front yard.
Nuts65
join:2006-04-27
Forest, OH

Nuts65

Member

Re: Had terrible service from Verzion for 8 years

The FOR SALE signs are already out

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

Do it all the time

Companies do this all the time. Pulling money from other projects and add it to projects they think they are going to make more money from. As in this case Verizon is taking money away from rural projects and applying it to urban projects.

A side note:

A person I work with, she said Verizon was going around where she lived trying to sign people up for FIOS. Told her that it would be a free install if she wanted it now but if she didn't want it now and wanted it installed later, it would cost her $1,000 to have Verizon install FIOS. She didn't take it and stuck with Comcast due to the fact Comcast has on demand programming.
russotto
join:2000-10-05
West Orange, NJ

russotto

Member

Re: Do it all the time

said by viperpa33s:

A person I work with, she said Verizon was going around where she lived trying to sign people up for FIOS. Told her that it would be a free install if she wanted it now but if she didn't want it now and wanted it installed later, it would cost her $1,000 to have Verizon install FIOS. She didn't take it and stuck with Comcast due to the fact Comcast has on demand programming.
Yep, they're doing that in PA too, though they didn't say $1000, just that I'd have to pay for installation. I'm not too worried; I want FIOS when they're doing TV over it and no sooner, and they'll no doubt run a promotion when they get that in.

DreamWraith
Premium Member
join:2004-04-07
Mount Vernon, WA

1 edit

DreamWraith

Premium Member

Feet Drag?

They aren't pulling resources here, however, what they ARE doing is not bringing any more resources in. Our entire tri-city area (burlington, mount vernon, and sedro-wooley) washington is maxed/tapped out. They are turning away subscribers, and even asking some people to cancel their service. When asked, they say they plan on bringing in some more infastructure, but not for another year or more, and even then nothing akin to FIOS.

So my question would be this. Why would they bring in more infastructure to support the deprecated copper interface? Why not add on to what in this area is already a fiber based infastructure and imlpement FIOS? Obviously they have an extremely high subscriber rate here, and FIOS would do well.

I can only surmise that they are dragging their feet in the rest of this state because the money they have dumped into the metro and sub-metro area FIOS in and around Seattle isn't doing as well subscriber-wise as they had hoped.
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

1 edit

PDXPLT

Member

WV not the only one at the bottom of VZ priorities

'same thing here, if you happen to live in an area where they have no competition. All you'll get is basic phone service, which they are legally obligated to provide to you.

Now, go a couple of miles down the road, where they face competition from Comcast, and it's a whole different ballgame.

This is in stark contrast to Qwest, which actually seems to be making an effort around here to providing something broadband to most of its territory. The city folks ding Qwest because they aren't investing in the latest 'n greatest high-speed in the urban core, put they do seem to be making an effort ot make basic broadband widely available.
NoOneButMe
join:2001-08-24
TX

NoOneButMe to DreamWraith

Member

to DreamWraith

Re: Feet Drag?

i live not to far from where thay are releaseing fios in washington state and thay are moving realy slow so i bet it wont be tell 2010 tell thay even talk about that part of the state you would think thay would update old gear 1st but there goin where the money is 1st Bothell Millcreek East Silver Lake all Seattle Hill road ... all thease places are High Income places over 500+$ homes in most cases the homes there allready at are worth over a million easy so ya LOL so thay are picking the money areas blah LOL

deadrelative
@verizon.net

deadrelative

Anon

All things relative...

Well, if a several coalminers dont' die a harsh suffocating death, nothing in government gets done.. in WV.. sorry to say it... but true..

Toadman
Hypnotoad
join:2001-11-28
Mystery

Toadman

Member

Competence of the repair people

I know I will take some flack for this, but most likely they are using local contractors or their own local service groups to do these repairs. I don't see it as taking money away, rather incompetent employees doing the easy way out and in a town/area that this is the norm. Any community that has to put out "permits required" signs when you enter a town speaks volumes and many of these rural WV towns have these.

plk
Premium Member
join:2002-04-20
united state

plk

Premium Member

Wondering: Are the using USF?

I do know all the fine details of the USF, but are they using these fund to pay for the buildout of city fiber and down the road, will they collect more and still to deploy in rural areas?

ctceo
Premium Member
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN

ctceo

Premium Member

Personal experiences

I've been installing and servicing DSL & Cable accounts for almost 5 years now, and I've seen the same problems with more companies other than Verizon. The truth of the matter is this:

If the company has an area with a very small customer base that has a minuscule amount of growth per year, and another one on the other side of their territory, it operates just like a business would, they neglect or completely withdraw services from one area to the new area. So I don't think Just Verizon is to blame for this unpopular decision, and I also don't believe that it is just limited to Copper to FIOS. This problem exists in Telephony broadband, as well as Television Broadband (such as Cable internet, and even Wireless internet. If one looks close enough it even happens within infrastructures outside the broadband perspective as well. It's just the basics taught whether directly or indirectly by business economics.

lead cable man
@sbcglobal.net

lead cable man

Anon

Trash bag?

Since most on hear claim they know so much of the industry I'd like to point out that there is not trash bags covering splices, regardless of the ILEC. That for the OSP challenged is slicker cloth and it is an approved means to cover the plant.
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

PDXPLT

Member

Re: Trash bag?

I'm sure your right about the point that it's not a trash bag. They degrade in sunlight pretty fast, by design.

But the "slicker cloth" can't be intended to be a permanent install, can it?

jferello
J
Premium Member
join:2001-03-12
Hatboro, PA

jferello

Premium Member

6 Month Old Trash Bag?

I think not.... If that is indeed a trash bag, then I want to know the brand!! I would love to have trash bags that look great after being outside for 6 months.
yabos
join:2003-02-16
London, ON

yabos

Member

Re: 6 Month Old Trash Bag?

That "trash bag" and the exposed wires don't look like they're finished work, they're work in progress so who cares if it's covered completely or not. I don't know what's with that "T1 line" attached to a fence or how they think they know it's a T1. It could be anything.

JohnDrenZ
Premium Member
join:2000-04-03
New River, AZ

JohnDrenZ

Premium Member

Re: 6 Month Old Trash Bag?

Click for full size
Click for full size
Get it straight, its "Slicker" not a trash bag, LOL. Band aiding is common practice on neglected plant. Even in places where Fios is being installed, I bet you will find crap. This isn't a West Virginia problem but a national problem. How else could we afford to give the CEO's nice bonuses. At work I always have my camera for a good laugh. I have worked for 2 RBOCs and I would say its the same at both companies.

Rob A
Adjusting
Premium Member
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ

Rob A

Premium Member

It's just a matter of time...

Before we all will have fios.

FIB3RTECH
@charter.com

FIB3RTECH

Anon

I have seen hundreds of feet of exposed wires

from pole to pole. Actually they are still like this today, and I am not just talking about 1 or 2 wires but a whole bundles.

I was on an underground hit and I respliced our cable and heat shrunk it. The Verizon tech was next to me and just buried it and laughed and called that job security.

Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26

Fatal Vector

Member

Awwww...



Lets all shed a big, fat tear for west virginia, shall we?
Imagine! Cables left in creek beds exposed! Cables "insulated" with nothing more than garbage bags! I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you...

Swindle
Shattered Dreams
join:2006-07-24
Tampa, FL

Swindle

Member

Re: Awwww...

I'm Hoping Since The Two Neighborhoods Between Mine Is Receiving FiosTV, We'll Be Next Thought This Is Middle Class Stuck Between Fairly New Housing Developments. :*