Verizon is attempting to exit the home phone business completely. After buying out Vodaphone's share of the cellular service, and a healthy national data network in place to support business users, they want to unload the legacy wire business. Florida Power & Light is stepping in to clear the air.
Per Broadband Reports.com:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Utility-Verizon-To-Exit-Wireline-Business-Within-10-Years-133693 (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Utility-Verizon-To-Exit-Wireline-Business-Within-10-Years-133693)
Utility: Verizon To Exit Wireline Business Within 10 Years
A utility company familiar with Verizon's business plans says Verizon has told it the company plans to exit the fixed-line broadband business entirely within the next ten years. Stop The Cap directs our attention to a filing at the FCC made by Florida Power & Light, urging the FCC to reject Verizon's decision to offload its Florida, Texas and California DSL, FiOS and POTS customers to Frontier Communications.
"Verizon has made it clear it intends to be out of the wireline business within the next ten years, conveying this clear intent to regulated utilities in negotiations over joint use issues and explaining that Verizon no longer wants to be a pole owner," FP&L told the FCC. "Indeed, the current proposed [$10.54 billion sale of Verizon facilities in Florida, Texas and California] proves this point."
For several years, Verizon's been either raising rates or refusing to repair aging DSL infrastructure as part of an obvious attempt to drive away DSL customers it doesn't want to upgrade. But as the company increasingly focuses on more profitable (read: capped) wireless data service, it's making it clear it's not opposed to offloading its FiOS infrastructure (and its related union and regulatory "headaches" as well).
Verizon took particular heat when it used Sandy and other natural disasters as an excuse to simply refuse to repair many DSL lines, instead driving users to a sub-standard wireless replacement service that failed to offer the same reliability or functionality. The telco has also made it clear it won't be expanding FiOS service to numerous cities (like Boston, Buffalo, Alexandria or Baltimore) looked over during the company's early deployment.
"All of the evidence shows that Verizon is abandoning its efforts to build out wireline broadband," argues the utility. "There should be no doubt that Verizon's strategy to abandon wireline service in favor of wireless service extends beyond New York and Florida and beyond storm damaged and rural areas."
Until wireless has guaranteed coverage and reliability that matches land lines, it is not a like replacement. To allow this without gov't regulation won't work. The gov't regulated land lines, and required expanded service to ensure coverage in rural areas. There are many rural, and not so rural areas that have spotty or marginal wireless coverage at best. This will not improve in these areas, or serve as a replacement, since they don't want to add coverage that is not as profitable.
The power companies like FPL & JEA should get into the broadband business themselves in partnership with the cities they serve. They have much of the infrastructure already in place.
If this keeps going like it's going we're going to wind up with phones and internet that cost twice as much and work half as well.
This is where the government should step in and grow a set.