A union representing Verizon workers has called for investigations into whether the company is allowing its copper phone and DSL networks to deteriorate.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) said it is sending letters to regulators in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The union, which is trying to pressure Verizon while it negotiates a new contract, pointed to a Verizon statement that the telco has spent $200 million on its copper network since 2008.
"$200 million represents 0.39 percent of the $50.7 billion Verizon spent on its wireline network from 2008 to 2014," the CWA said.
Nearly all of the $50.7 billion was spent building Verizon's fiber network, a project the union supports. But Verizon still has more than eight million customers on its copper network, and "where Verizon has refused to deploy its all-fiber FiOS network, Verizon has the statutory obligation to maintain its copper plant to provide safe, reliable service," the union said.
The $200 million amounts to $28.6 million a year, or about $3.50 per line per year for "poles, cables, wires, pedestals, terminals, batteries, and other plant and equipment needed to build, maintain, repair, and service its copper network," the union said. With copper landline customers paying $300 to $370 a year for basic voice service and about $400 a year for DSL Internet, "Verizon spends less than one percent of the rate it charges for basic voice service and less than half a percent of the rate it charges for a voice/DSL bundled service on the upkeep of its copper network," the union said.
In its letters to state regulators, the union referred to repeated complaints from customers about degraded service. For example, the letter to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said that since 2012, more than 6,000 customers complained to the state "about the quality and reliability of service they receive from Verizon."
The union told Pennsylvania officials that Verizon technicians and customer service employees can confirm that the telco "is not providing safe, adequate, and reasonable telephone service." The requested state investigation should analyze network revenue and expenditures; the condition of the copper infrastructure; staffing levels for preventive maintenance, repair, installation; customer service; and policies and procedures that impact the quality of phone and Internet service, the union said.
CWA, which accuses Verizon of trying to slash benefits, is one of two unions representing a total of 39,000 Verizon employees who have been working without a contract since August 1.
"Verizon makes $1 billion in profits every month and has refused to bargain constructively with its 39,000 employees over the terms of its contract, continuing to insist on the ability to outsource more jobs, increase health care costs by thousands of dollars a person and slash retirement security," the union said.
The union isn't the only one criticizing Verizon's network priorities. Consumer advocacy groups last year asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate complaints that Verizon is letting copper landlines deteriorate. The FCC subsequently said it would do so, and it has been considering how best to protect customers as copper networks age.
Verizon: “No company has invested more in broadband”
Verizon has previously dismissed union claims about network maintenance as "meaningless rhetoric and hyperbole" that's par for the course during bargaining.
When contacted by Ars yesterday, Verizon called the latest claims "absurd" but didn't respond to any of the specific points made by the union.
"CWA leadership’s claims are absurd and nothing more than a tired tactic from the union playbook to avoid serious negotiations on a fair contract for their members," Verizon said. "Verizon’s commitment to invest heavily in its wireline network is well documented and unquestioned. No company has invested more in broadband; last year alone we invested almost $6 billion in our wireline networks."
Verizon's statement that it spent $200 million on copper maintenance since 2008 came in a filing to the FCC on July 15. In the filing, Verizon urged the commission to avoid imposing new regulations on what's being called "de facto" retirement of copper networks, meaning retirement of networks through neglect rather than upgrades to better technology.
"Here’s what the data show: our trouble rate for customers still served by copper—a measurement of the number of 'troubles' per 100 access lines, and likely the best indicator of network reliability—has steadily declined since 2011 to just over two troubles per 100 lines," Verizon said in a blog post in July. "This is well below the benchmark generally set by states that engage in service-quality regulation."
Though Verizon consistently touts fiber's superiority over copper, it isn't upgrading all of its customers. An audit by New York City officials in June found that Verizon has failed to deliver on its commitment to extend its FiOS network to all homes in the city. In Pennsylvania, Verizon promised to bring fiber Internet or "comparable technology" to its entire service area but instead has left more than two million homes with nothing but slower DSL or wireless service.
Last week, Verizon declined to accept government funding that could have been used to boost Internet speeds in areas where it hasn't deployed fiber.
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