Verizon defends honor in Wilmington FiOS talks

Some of the outages in Manhattan and the Bronx were brief and some lasted for days. What are we gettting ourselves into? God only knows!!!

This will not do any good in the Bronx, NY if the power stays off for 8 days. This happened two years in a row. Google power outage in the Bronx or Brooklyn, NY. I wouldn't even try to get Verizon service if I was not gauranteed the service would come back on after 8 hours. Some people do not have a cell phone. In an emergency - this could lead to tragedy.

P.S. to be fair they claim they have a backup battery for I could be wrong - 4 hours. It could be eight. It is only for the phone. Not TV or Internet.

Oh? Do you want us to put our head on your shoulder and cry??? Right!!! Did you hear what he said Verizon is not a monopoly. AT&T with 300 billion in market cap and revenue isn't either. Gimme a break!!! Just spread the peanut butter and jelly on the bread so they can come into your neighborhood and control your viewing, surfing and talking habits. We really need this fancy new service. Make sure you guys sound off when your bill goes down because behemoth number 1 and 2 is in your neighborhood. I will quit my satellite tv for Verizon. If it is too good to be true. I already have their sweetheart deal of phone and super fast internet. 20 Mbps/5Mbps with unlimited phone for $69.99 a month plus taxes. This is a good deal for two years and you guessed it after that it baloons by 30 to 40 dollars plus taxes....Now when your lights go out or the wind takes down your phone/internet/tv line....Guess what???? You see nothing until they come out and fix it. Thank God I didn't drop my satellite Tv or I would be watching my nice 4 green walls in my living room...Ugh!!!

What seems to be missed in Wilmington and Philly is that being the second network builder allowed in to compete with the entrenched incumbent is different from being first in a green field. That is why no telco newcomer was required to overbuild 100% nor to become a carrier of last resort. In fact there were federal laws which made such a requirement illegal (or there would have been no facilities based competition for telecom). Verizon is building a brand new network of fiber to everyone's home. It is not a monopoly and not a guaranteed success, but it is one heck of an investment gamble. Make the odds too long for success and yes, I bet they will walk away and go somewhere else to invest while they wait for these two cities to come to their senses. Only the citizens will suffer as there are plenty of other places still.

As much as it may be troubling for Verizon not to make these commitments, if they haven't made them in other areas, one should really ask themselves, what provider does. Verizon is investing a great deal in these areas, I would think it would be a waste if they weren't serious about both reliable service & efficient repair in comparison to its competition.

Would it be fair to ask anything more of them, remember, their investing a pretty penny and not commiting themselves to reliable efficient service runs the risk of losing customers to the competition.

This said, they should be green lighted and as soon as possible as getting FIOS into these neighborhoods is a huge job, please get this done ASAP so residents in both Wilmington DE & Philadelphia PA can enjoy the advanced services & competition of FIOS its many other customers enjoy.