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Verizon Responds to Customer Service Concerns About Speed of Telephone Repairs in Some Downstate Areas

Posted on: Friday, 2 February 2007, 15:00 CST

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon, working with the New York Public Service Commission, will implement a four-part plan designed to correct and improve repair intervals of seven repair bureaus, which are located in the New York metropolitan area and serve Queens and Nassau counties and parts of Westchester and Suffolk counties. These steps are designed to improve the reliability of Verizon's service, and continue to move the company toward its goal of greater reliability -- something only Verizon's wireline network delivers.

"In our filing today with the commission, Verizon addressed the commission's concerns regarding one service measurement -- how quickly customers get repairs -- in seven of the 35 Verizon repair bureaus that serve New York state," said Maura Breen, Verizon senior vice president and general manager for New York. "This measurement is being met in all our other areas, and virtually all of our service levels are being met satisfactorily. The commission has publicly acknowledged that. However, this is an isolated service issue that we will correct. I can confidently say it is inconsistent with and uncharacteristic of the excellent level of service that Verizon provides in New York."

Fiber-to-the-Home Is Long-Term Solution

The company's filing stresses that an important and expected benefit of its investment in an all-fiber-optic network is an even more reliable and future-proof telecom network. The filing states: "The substantial contribution that FTTP [fiber to the premises] deployment and FiOS penetration will make to service quality -- and the importance of such deployment, and the customer benefits that it will generate, to Verizon's long-term service- quality improvement efforts -- are real, and should not be underestimated."

Plans Put in Place

Breen said, "Nothing is more important to us than great customer service, and we know it's one of the reasons customers continue to choose Verizon. Customers can change their telecom and broadband provider easily, so the way for Verizon to win and retain customers is to have the best technology coupled with the best customer service.

"For these seven areas, we have put plans in place that will result in a better service experience for our customers."

In its response to the PSC, the company stated it will: * Include in its capital construction budget targeted investments designed to improve the performance of the copper outside plant facilities in the seven bureaus. * Implement a prudent and highly selective program to move certain customers with chronic issues regarding their voice service from copper facilities to the company's new all-fiber network. * Aggressively pursue proactive maintenance of the copper network in these areas, with the goal of significantly reducing the number of initial repair dispatches. * Rebalance its maintenance and repair workforce to better align the company's resources with customer needs. This will include shifting some 300 employees from other areas into the seven cited areas.

Breen summarized the filing saying, "Verizon's service in New York is very good. But these repair issues are a matter of concern, and we have implemented a very serious approach that will resolve this issue. No other communications company is subject to the scrutiny that Verizon is. But our customers recognize that we are the gold-standard in telecommunications and broadband services, and we are committed to living up to that expectation."

Verizon Communications Inc. , headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 59 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which operates one of the most expansive wholly owned global IP networks, and Verizon Telecom, which is deploying the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network to deliver the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services to customers. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of approximately 242,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Verizon

CONTACT: John Bonomo, +1-212-321-8033, John.J.Bonomo@Verizon.com orHeather Wilner, +1-212-321-8333, Heather.B.Wilner@Verizon.com, both ofVerizon

Web site: http://www.verizon.com/http://www.verizon.com/news

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

Source: PRNewswire

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