Verizon: Rally All You Want, We’re Not Bringing FiOS To Your Town

Remember those glorious pre-recession days when Verizon was going to end cable tyranny and bring high-speed broadband to all? (photo: Bart)

Don’t be fooled by Verizon’s commercials for FiOS (and not just because they’re full of misleading charts). If they haven’t already started building out the network in your immediate area, the odds of you ever getting service are slim to none. Just ask the residents of one Long Island town who hoped that a public rally could convince Big V to bring even a hint of broadband competition to their burg.

This coming saturday, residents of Riverhead, NY, will be gathering together to make a very public plea for Verizon to bring FiOS service to their town, which is currently only serviced by Cablevision even though the town’s franchise currently expired franchise agreement with Cablevision allows for other pay-TV providers to operate in the area.

“Really, it’s a rally to try to get FiOS to come to Riverhead,” explained town supervisor Sean Walter to the Riverhead News-Review. “I’m not saying Verizon or Cablevision is better. I’m saying competition is always better.”

Verizon has brought FiOS to some towns in the region, but much like people in areas like Boston or the D.C. suburbs have found, the telecom titan isn’t actively looking to bring its service to people with whom it doesn’t already have an agreement.

And in some cases, like large swaths of New Jersey, FiOS is simply ignoring its agreed-upon obligation. So if Verizon won’t make good on a written promise with state regulators, it probably won’t be too moved by a few hundred townspeople asking it to please come to their part of the world.

“It’s a simple no,” said a Verizon spokesperson who must be great company at funerals. “I hate to be blunt, but the answer is no.”

He tells the News-Review that the town had its chance a decade ago when Verizon first came around pushing its promise of speedy Internet service.

“Back in those days we reached out to a lot of communities because we were starting to build a business,” he explained. “Now we have built that business.”

[via DSLreports.com]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist