Verizon Responds to the FCC: Fiber is Better, Even for POTS

Verizon filed a response to opposition filed for our copper retirement in Ocean View (VA) and Belle Harbor (NY). As of April 2014, fewer than forty of Verizon’s customers in Ocean View and Belle Harbor remained on copper facilities.

Customers in these two wire centers -- which cover more than 15,000 homes -- have already overwhelmingly made the decision to move to either Verizon’s fiber-based services or to competitors. Completing the migration to Verizon’s more advanced and reliable fiber facilities, and retiring the legacy copper loops and the switches in these wire centers, is not just a logical and efficient step, but it is also an incremental one.

There has been no valid objection to the copper retirement filed by customers living or working in these areas or by providers serving them, and no request for an extension of time made. The claims raised by the very few commenters (none of which is specific to these two wire centers) have no merit under the circumstances here. Most of the customers remaining on copper-based services in these two wire centers today are purchasing plain old telephone service, or POTS.

Following copper retirement, they will continue to receive the same traditional POTS service over fiber on the same terms and conditions and at the same or better price as they received over copper. There is no change in the underlying features and functionalities in their service: voice mail, collect calling, and other features will continue to work just as they did over copper; customers will continue to be able to use fax machines, medical monitoring devices, and home alarms; and accessibility services -- such as relay services used by customers who are deaf or hard of hearing -- also will continue to work as before. There will be no change to customers’ ability to call 911: public safety answering points will receive the same E911 information as before.