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Six Months Later, Still No Verizon Phone Service in the Rockaways

Phillip Dampier April 8, 2013 Audio, Consumer News, Verizon Comments Off on Six Months Later, Still No Verizon Phone Service in the Rockaways

sandyMore than six months after Hurricane Sandy did her handiwork on coastal New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, hundreds of residents are still getting phone bills from Verizon for phone and Internet service they have been without since Halloween.

Most of the outages are around the Ocean Bay development in Far Rockaway, south of Brooklyn.

For thousands of residents, the only regular communication from Verizon every month arrives in the form of a bill.

“I need that phone to make phone calls for an ambulance or long distance or the police department,” Geraldine Jones, president of the development’s tenant association, told the Daily News. “We’re tired of being without our landlines. It’s terrible. They’ve got the nerve to send me a bill every month. I’m frustrated and angry. It’s not fair. It’s not right.”

WNYC Radio reports local politicians are now getting involved in Verizon’s half-year landline outages on Far Rockaway. (1 minute)
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Verizon-logoVerizon’s response has mostly been shrugged shoulders and no firm estimate of when service will be repaired.

“Verizon is working closely with the New York City Housing Authority and together we have made good progress in restoring service to residents to of the Ocean Bay apartment complex,” company spokesman Phil Santoro retorted in a statement. “By the end of this month, we will begin restoring service to all those who live in the complex from 54th to 59th streets on our brand new state-of-the-art fiber optic network.”

But that means some of Verizon’s customers will have been without phone service for more than half a year.

“It shouldn’t take six months,” said City Councilman Donovan Richards. “Some of these people don’t have cell phones. They’re elderly. It’s a public safety issue.”

WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show takes a close look at telecom outages after Hurricane Sandy. (17 minutes)
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Verizon Retweets Stop the Cap! (and Other Tears in the Fabric of Space)

Phillip Dampier April 3, 2013 Broadband Speed, Competition, Consumer News, Data Caps, Editorial & Site News, Verizon Comments Off on Verizon Retweets Stop the Cap! (and Other Tears in the Fabric of Space)

 

Vodafone Stock Spiking on Rumor of Near-Term Buyout By AT&T and Verizon

Phillip Dampier April 2, 2013 AT&T, Competition, Public Policy & Gov't, Verizon, Vodafone (UK), Wireless Broadband Comments Off on Vodafone Stock Spiking on Rumor of Near-Term Buyout By AT&T and Verizon

vodafoneA Financial Times blog post has started a buying frenzy for Vodafone Group Plc on news AT&T and Verizon Communications are about to bid for the British mobile phone giant, despite denials from Verizon it is involved in any deal to acquire the British mobile phone company.

The Times Alphaville blog quotes unnamed sources deemed “usually reliable people” who claim Verizon and AT&T are working together on a blockbuster $245 billion takeover deal for one of the world’s largest wireless carriers. After the story appeared, Vodafone shares were up 6.1 percent.

Verizon is interested in buying out Vodafone’s part ownership in its Verizon Wireless venture and AT&T is looking to overseas markets for future wireless revenue opportunities that are harder to find in the United States.

att verizonThe sources told the Times they expect the deal will initially merge Vodafone and Verizon into a single entity, but only briefly. Verizon would promptly sell Vodafone’s extensive international assets to AT&T at a premium. Verizon would end up the sole owner of Verizon Wireless, and AT&T would acquire Vodafone’s enormous wireless operations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Barclays Plc is working on putting together the potential transaction, Alphaville said today.

Informal talks have reportedly been underway between AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone since December according to Bloomberg News. The biggest impediments seem to be among the company’s top executives arguing over who ends up in the leadership and where the combined companies will be located — in the UK or the USA.

Vodafone has been a tolerated partner in Verizon Wireless since 1999 when Bell Atlantic and Vodafone merged their respective mobile ventures into Verizon Wireless. Vodafone has held tightly to their part-ownership of Verizon’s wireless network, which has proven an enormous earner in an American wireless marketplace considered less competitive than in Europe. The talks indicate Verizon is willing to pay a premium price to disconnect the British wireless company from its American operations. Allowing AT&T to help finance the largest wireless takeover in years makes it more likely a deal can be done, assuming regulators on both sides of the Atlantic agree.

Columbus Suburb Offers Verizon $4.2 Million Tax Break

Phillip Dampier March 27, 2013 Public Policy & Gov't, Verizon 1 Comment

hilliardThe city council of Hilliard, Ohio is offering Verizon $4.2 million in tax breaks to move 1,500 Verizon employees to the community of 28,000 and hire 500 new employees to join them.

The 10-year tax deal will give Verizon a 50 percent incentive on income tax withholding for amounts in excess of $72 million, according to a report by ThisWeek. In 2015, the first full year of the incentive, Verizon’s payroll is estimated to reach almost $90 million.

Verizon is also applying for tax credits at the state level.

Jeff Brown, an attorney representing Verizon, called the agreement “truly a partnership between the entities.”

map hilliardCritics call it truly short-changing local government.

Citizens for Tax Justice note this is not the first time Verizon has been offered tax breaks by Hilliard. In 2008, the city granted $3.4 million in tax subsidies and abatements to relocate 500 call center jobs (300 from out-of-state) to Hilliard. The state of Ohio also approved a 40 percent, five-year tax credit valued at $380,140. Another five-year tax credit amounting to $253,000 over five years was also granted later that same year.

Citizens for Tax Justice believes Verizon has successfully pitted communities against one another to compete for jobs and local investments at the same time the company is cutting both:

Despite being highly profitable,Verizon manages to avoid billions of dollars in federal and state taxes through tax code maneuvers as well as by seeking special tax breaks in the name of economic development. It also shortchanges local governments through property tax abatements as well as assessment challenges.

Whatever savings have come from this tax dodging have not been used to invest in the company or its workforce.Verizon has been eliminating jobs and investing less. During the past three years,the total number of employees at Verizon has fallen by more than 40,000 and the company’s capital expenditures have declined by $1 billion.

Frontier Upgrades 155 of 194 Central Offices in N.Y. to Support Up to 25Mbps

Frontier's headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

Frontier’s headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

Frontier Communications is boasting it spent $123.6 million in New York to upgrade broadband speeds, now available up to 25Mbps through bonded ADSL2+ or VDSL technologies.

Frontier’s New York customers are now offered traditional 1-6Mbps DSL, Broadband Ultra (up to 12Mbps) and Broadband Ultimate (up to 25Mbps).

Kevin Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Frontier’s New York division said 155 of Frontier’s 194 switching offices now have faster speeds available, as do 214 remote DSLAM switches. In all, Frontier now reaches 403,000 New York households with faster Internet service.

The company also spent a considerable sum in the Rochester and Chenango areas to upgrade its backbone network with interoffice 10G Ethernet Ring Protection Switching topology. Rochester remains an important center for Frontier, as its largest metropolitan market. IT software upgrades in Rochester will also help improve the national help desk and network operations.

Frontier also plans a major broadband expansion in Hamilton County with broadband grant funds that will improve the company’s backbone between Eagle Bay and Gloversville. That will introduce 25Mbps service to more than half of the households in the immediate area.

Frontier claims it intends to further expand broadband to 85 percent of its service areas nationwide, including those it acquired from Verizon Communications.

 

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