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New York Regulators, Lawmakers Should Block Verizon Sale of Upstate Landlines -- and Also Correct th
The Communications Workers of America, representing 71,000 Verizon employees, issued the following statement today:
Washington, DC -- News that Verizon is considering the sale of its upstate New York phone network should sound a loud warning to regulators and political leaders that bad telecommunications policy begets even worse policy from the standpoint of the public.
For customers in major cities such as Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse, as well as smaller towns and rural areas upstate, such a sale would bring worse phone service by stifling capital investment in the network and curbing the rollout of high-speed Internet service.
Public service commissioners and elected officials should block any such move – but at the same time, they must correct the regulatory anomaly that is convincing Verizon and other major telecom companies to view the landline phone business in many areas as a losing proposition.
Verizon currently loses $8 per month for each phone line that it provides to 5.8 million customers because of the discount price it is required by regulators to offer competitors for reselling its service. Losing nearly $50 million a month is certainly no inducement to invest in quality, universal service, which Verizon is mandated by law to provide. Regulators need to level the playing field and increase competitive lease rates to a level where Verizon at least doesn't lose money for providing basic phone service.
Meanwhile, Verizon's move to sell the business is no solution. This draconian step must be stopped in its tracks. We call on citizens to express their outrage to their lawmakers, to Governor Pataki, and to CEO Ivan Seidenberg, and tell them – don't abandon upstate New York.
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Washington, DC -- News that Verizon is considering the sale of its upstate New York phone network should sound a loud warning to regulators and political leaders that bad telecommunications policy begets even worse policy from the standpoint of the public.
For customers in major cities such as Buffalo, Albany and Syracuse, as well as smaller towns and rural areas upstate, such a sale would bring worse phone service by stifling capital investment in the network and curbing the rollout of high-speed Internet service.
Public service commissioners and elected officials should block any such move – but at the same time, they must correct the regulatory anomaly that is convincing Verizon and other major telecom companies to view the landline phone business in many areas as a losing proposition.
Verizon currently loses $8 per month for each phone line that it provides to 5.8 million customers because of the discount price it is required by regulators to offer competitors for reselling its service. Losing nearly $50 million a month is certainly no inducement to invest in quality, universal service, which Verizon is mandated by law to provide. Regulators need to level the playing field and increase competitive lease rates to a level where Verizon at least doesn't lose money for providing basic phone service.
Meanwhile, Verizon's move to sell the business is no solution. This draconian step must be stopped in its tracks. We call on citizens to express their outrage to their lawmakers, to Governor Pataki, and to CEO Ivan Seidenberg, and tell them – don't abandon upstate New York.
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