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Aug 18 14 9:12 PM
Fiber is fast, but copper is reliable—even during multi-week power outages.The shift from copper landlines to fiber-based voice networks is continuing apace, and no one wants it to happen faster than Verizon.Further ReadingReport: Verizon FiOS claimed public utility status to get government perksStill, Verizon campaigns against utility-style regulation that it benefits from.Internet users nationwide are clamoring for fiber, as well, hoping it can free them from slower DSL service or the dreaded cable companies. But not everyone wants fiber, because, when it comes to voice calls, the newer technology doesn’t have all the benefits of the old copper phone network. In particular, fiber doesn’t conduct electricity, where copper does. That means when your power goes out, copper landlines might keep working for days or weeks by drawing electricity over the lines, while a phone that relies on fiber will only last as long as its battery. That's up to eight hours for Verizon’s most widely available backup system. Thus, while many customers practically beg for fiber, others—particularly those who have suffered through long power outages—want Verizon to keep maintaining the old copper lines. But Verizon continues pressuring customers to switch, and it’s getting harder to say no. “Verizon's efforts to force people off copper in my area of Rhode Island rise to the level of harassment,” Verizon customer Karen Anne Kolling of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, told Ars. Kolling is one of numerous Verizon customers who got in touch with Ars in response to articles on the in-progress shutoff of the traditional telephone network. “They have contacted me at least 10 to 20 times in the last year, including showing up unannounced on my doorstep to tell me they were switching me to FiOS," Kolling said. "So far I have managed to save my landline in this area, which is subject to power failures from hurricanes.”The Verizon guy is here. VerizonVerizon spokesperson John Bonomo told Ars in an e-mail, "We do not 'show up unannounced' to people’s homes. We have to install equipment in customers’ homes, and then very likely we need to do additional work inside the home." Verizon has 4.9 million residential landline customers still on copper networks, with 5.5 million getting voice service over fiber. Public interest groups and consumers have accused Verizon of letting copper networks deteriorate and using their degraded status to push fiber upgrades. Verizon made $31.5 billion in revenue last quarter along with $4.3 billion in profit. But its wireline business has struggled, with the fiber-based FiOS products propping it up. Total wireline revenue in Q2 2014 was $9.8 billion, up 0.3 percent, the first year-over-year increase in more than seven years. FiOS was the main driver of growth, with revenue increasing 14 percent over the previous year, hitting $3.1 billion. Verizon cut investment in its wireline business—it had 80,600 wireline employees as of June 30, 2014, down from 84,700 in 2013, 88,600 in 2012, and 93,200 in 2011. Verizon also reduced capital expenditures from $2.95 billion in the six months ending June 30, 2013 to $2.73 billion in the six months ending June 30, 2014. “They told me if my copper-based landline needs repair, they will not repair it. So I'll have no choice but to switch to FIOS or Cox, both of which have limited time battery backup in the event of power failures,” said Kolling, a longtime software engineer who worked for Xerox PARC, Digital, and Adobe. Despite Verizon’s warnings, Kolling’s copper lines have continued to work. “I probably have received at least 15 phone calls over the past year or so, and usually they start out with some statement like, ‘due to many problems with your phone service, we are switching you to FIOS,’” Kolling said. “I asked one of these callers what all these problems were, and she found one: eight years ago, in 2006, an outside wire came down and needed to be reattached.” Kolling said she went up the food chain and was promised by a Verizon executive that residents will receive 30 days' notice if Verizon decides to completely turn off copper-based landline service where she lives. “I hope this is correct, so I have been ignoring them ever since,” she said. Across the country, Verizon customers tell the same story
The shift from copper landlines to fiber-based voice networks is continuing apace, and no one wants it to happen faster than Verizon.
Still, Verizon campaigns against utility-style regulation that it benefits from.
Internet users nationwide are clamoring for fiber, as well, hoping it can free them from slower DSL service or the dreaded cable companies. But not everyone wants fiber, because, when it comes to voice calls, the newer technology doesn’t have all the benefits of the old copper phone network. In particular, fiber doesn’t conduct electricity, where copper does. That means when your power goes out, copper landlines might keep working for days or weeks by drawing electricity over the lines, while a phone that relies on fiber will only last as long as its battery. That's up to eight hours for Verizon’s most widely available backup system.
Thus, while many customers practically beg for fiber, others—particularly those who have suffered through long power outages—want Verizon to keep maintaining the old copper lines. But Verizon continues pressuring customers to switch, and it’s getting harder to say no.
“Verizon's efforts to force people off copper in my area of Rhode Island rise to the level of harassment,” Verizon customer Karen Anne Kolling of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, told Ars.
Kolling is one of numerous Verizon customers who got in touch with Ars in response to articles on the in-progress shutoff of the traditional telephone network. “They have contacted me at least 10 to 20 times in the last year, including showing up unannounced on my doorstep to tell me they were switching me to FiOS," Kolling said. "So far I have managed to save my landline in this area, which is subject to power failures from hurricanes.”
Verizon spokesperson John Bonomo told Ars in an e-mail, "We do not 'show up unannounced' to people’s homes. We have to install equipment in customers’ homes, and then very likely we need to do additional work inside the home."
Verizon has 4.9 million residential landline customers still on copper networks, with 5.5 million getting voice service over fiber. Public interest groups and consumers have accused Verizon of letting copper networks deteriorate and using their degraded status to push fiber upgrades. Verizon made $31.5 billion in revenue last quarter along with $4.3 billion in profit. But its wireline business has struggled, with the fiber-based FiOS products propping it up. Total wireline revenue in Q2 2014 was $9.8 billion, up 0.3 percent, the first year-over-year increase in more than seven years. FiOS was the main driver of growth, with revenue increasing 14 percent over the previous year, hitting $3.1 billion.
Verizon cut investment in its wireline business—it had 80,600 wireline employees as of June 30, 2014, down from 84,700 in 2013, 88,600 in 2012, and 93,200 in 2011. Verizon also reduced capital expenditures from $2.95 billion in the six months ending June 30, 2013 to $2.73 billion in the six months ending June 30, 2014.
“They told me if my copper-based landline needs repair, they will not repair it. So I'll have no choice but to switch to FIOS or Cox, both of which have limited time battery backup in the event of power failures,” said Kolling, a longtime software engineer who worked for Xerox PARC, Digital, and Adobe.
Despite Verizon’s warnings, Kolling’s copper lines have continued to work. “I probably have received at least 15 phone calls over the past year or so, and usually they start out with some statement like, ‘due to many problems with your phone service, we are switching you to FIOS,’” Kolling said. “I asked one of these callers what all these problems were, and she found one: eight years ago, in 2006, an outside wire came down and needed to be reattached.”
Kolling said she went up the food chain and was promised by a Verizon executive that residents will receive 30 days' notice if Verizon decides to completely turn off copper-based landline service where she lives. “I hope this is correct, so I have been ignoring them ever since,” she said.
Read more @ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/why-verizon-is-trying-very-hard-to-force-fiber-on-its-customers/
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