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NYC Threatens To Sue Verizon Over FiOS Shortfalls (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: New York City officials yesterday notified Verizon that the company is in default of an agreement to bring fiber connections to all households in the city and could file a lawsuit against the company. The road to a potential lawsuit has been a long one. In June 2015, New York released an audit that found Verizon failed to meet a commitment to extend FiOS to every household in the five boroughs by June 2014. City officials and Verizon have been trying to resolve the matter since then with no success, as Verizon says that it hasn't actually broken the agreement. The default letter (full text) sent yesterday by the city Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) says Verizon has failed to pass all residential buildings in the city with fiber. As of October 2015, there were at least 38,551 addresses where Verizon hadn't fulfilled installation service requests that were more than a year old, the letter said. "Moreover, Verizon improperly reduced, from $50 million to $15 million, the performance bond required [by] the Agreement on the basis of Verizon's incorrect representations that Verizon had met the prescribed deployment schedule, when in fact it had not," the letter said. City officials demanded that Verizon restore the bond and wants a response within 30 days. The default letter also accuses Verizon of failing to make records related to its provision of cable service available to the city during its audit. "Officials say they could sue Verizon unless the carrier shows clear plans for stepping up installations," and that the notice is the first step in that process, The Wall Street Journal reported. The citywide fiber agreement lets NYC seek monetary damages from Verizon if it fails to deliver on the fiber promises.
somebody in the government bureaucracy didn't get paid (enough.)
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Back up the threat by repossessing and auctioning off their fiber
Given that NYC claims Verizon failed to perform, shouldn't NYC have already made claim to that $50 million performance bond (before Verizon had a chance to "reduce" it, which I don't understand how they can unilaterally do anyway)?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Good!
The threat the city has made is to sue Verizon unless Verizon caves into the city's demands voluntarily.
What I don't understand is why this is even a story on slashdot, nothing has happened until a suit has been filed. I suppose any story about a big evil mobile network provider is good clickbait.
End Franchise agreements. Confiscate the existing Fiber plant, and install Municipal funded fiber plant, back to a COLO facility and offer all service proivders a seat at THAT (COLO) table. You'll see lots of creative solutions to problems you didn't even know you had..
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Summary of the problem:
::snickers in background::
...contract term elapses
NYC: "Ok, we agree then, you'll pass every house."
Verizon: "Yup, we'll 'pass' every house. Every address shall be 'passed', you got it."
NYC: "What's the deal Verizon, not every address can get service!"
Verizon: "Yeah and? That's not what pass means. We passed everywhere, that doesn't actually mean we have to offer service where we passed."
NYC: "But that *is* what pass means, that they can get service."
Verizon: "That's not our definition, and your definition wasn't in the contract, so we met our contract."
NYC: "Hey, nobody screws our citizens over that bad at the level of bribes you offered, cya in court whenever you stop bribing for more time!"
Apparently Verizon's strategy for laying fiber and building the next generation of Internet infrastructure for US consumers is to lay fiber buried underneath their street or sidewalk. Because you see, consumers don't actually want to CONNECT to the fiber; they're perfectly content with just the idea of it passing down the street in front of their house.
And for this, let's collect many billions of dollars in taxpayer money and funnel it to this corporation. I'm sure this will pay huge dividends for our GDP as our consumers become more connected to the global economy... through their $10/GB 4G LTE connection.
Fuck Verizon.
meh Verizon is a state protected asset, nothing to see here citizen move along
Nobody likes either, they both play dirty, they're sufficiently well-connected and well-funded to avoid the rules applying to them, and they make promises they never had any intention of really keeping.
Yeah, confiscating all of their assets is a great way to encourage others to do it! What an example you'll be setting for them about the benefits of doing business in your jurisdiction.
I bet you could even pull it off in just five years with the right planning.
Yeah, confiscating their assets is a great way to show what happens to companies that don't fulfill their contractual obligations!
For once, the Related Links seem relevant.
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Explosions, multiple shootings, bombs... Channel Verizon customers' angst much? Ok, they're not Comcast. Maybe the bombs are out of line...
Whipslash, the gerbil that updates Related Links died. You might want to get a new one.
Their assets paid for by our tax dollars and our subscription fees that they were allowed to have by adhering to agreements that they have defaulted on more than once.
As to the benefits of this, the benefits have been shown multiple times over in other places were this allows multiple companies in an area and actually compete over the same lines which leads to better prices and support.
I am amazing what you can accomplish when you actually set up a system where they have to compete and the barriers of entry are low enough to get lots of companies and startups trying for a piece of the action.
The last mile access should be publicly owned and maintained as that is the part the companies can effectively hold a populace by the balls on.
Then let the Fed file suit against Verizon for breach of contract while NYC provides the accounting and third-party evidence. While they are at it, the Fed should file suit against all major telecoms that have received federal money and have yet to even bring their FCC-mandated "broadband speeds" up to par, much less expand their networks.
This is just a small scale, well publicized version of the grander nation-wide problem with the Fed giving money to the likes of Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, TWC/Charter and not getting anything in return.
Hey fucking moron, the agreement was between The City of New York and Verizon. RTFA. http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi...
Are ass-holes like you totally incapable of reading!
Yeah, confiscating all of their assets is a great way to encourage others to do it! What an example you'll be setting for them about the benefits of doing business in your jurisdiction.
I bet you could even pull it off in just five years with the right planning.
That whooshing sound you hear is the patently obvious point sailing right over your head. Seize the cable plant and adopt the public utility model. That will be a great way to encourage others to live up to the terms of the agreements they negotiate, not to mention a clear message to others to not to try similar bullshit in the future. Verizon had their shot, they missed, or more likely never intended to deliver at all. Fuck them and their shareholders. Regulations either have teeth or they don't.
Reply All had a good episode on this subject ( https://gimletmedia.com/episod... )
What was interesting is that Verizon has run the cable through the city - but customers just need to call and ask to have it hooked up. So they met the requirement. And that is where the problem comes - Verizon doesn't necessarily own those last few feet. Plus they strung it in places where people are most likely to afford it. Or not.
Deep issue. Give the show a listen.
The reason Google would never have agreed to terms like this. It only pays if you can get a significant number of people in an area to sign up.