No more landlines on Fire Island? Verizon seeks to go wireless.

Last October, Hurricane Sandy struck the shores of New York and New Jersey, upending houses and their inhabitants. Wireless providers scrambled to get service back to the storm-torn areas. On outlying islands along the New York and New Jersey coast, underground phone lines had been washed away. Nearly eight months later, nearly all of the storm-affected areas are well on their way to rebuilding, and cell phone reception has long since been restored. But, residents of Fire Island– a barrier island off the New York coast– still do not have their landlines restored, and they might ever get them back.

Verizon Communications filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to discontinue landline service in “certain parts of New Jersey and New York affected by Hurricane Sandy,” most notably on Fire Island. Instead of restoring the old copper wire networks in the tiny community, the telecom provider has proposed offering its wireless communication service: Voice Link.