Verizon’s FiOS Service Not Meeting Standards In New York
Posted on: Wednesday, 1 October 2008, 11:38 CDT
In New York, regulators have questioned whether or not to ban the company Verizon Communications Inc. from installing the fiber-optic FiOS service. This is pending an investigation that the company is making sure it's providing enough electrical grounding information for its home equipment.
Equipment and cables that are not grounded properly could shock people or start fires. There have been no reports for far of FiOS equipment harming any people or property, Verizon said, but the concerns remain.
Regulating telecommunications in NY is performed by the New York State Public Service Commission. They have been pestering Verizon over this issue since 2006, and stated in a report last week that the company's solutions are lazy and not as productive as they could be.
Fiber-optic cable is not electrically conductive. However, the wall-mounted box needed for it has a coaxial video cable. The regulators are worried that the coaxial cable could unintentionally transmit a high voltage, leading to harm.
It stated in the report that about 17 percent of the FiOS installations do not meet the National Electrical Code, which is still down from 50 percent earlier in the year.
The Public Service Commission deems 5 percent is the goal that should be met, and requested that the commission consider a suspension until the company attains the goal in NY.
New York City is the leading market for FiOS and a huge prospect of continued growth for Verizon.
Eric Rabe, a Verizon spokesman, stated that less than 5 percent of installations in New York were labeled unsatisfactory in September. This was determined by an independent consulting firm that was hired by the company.
"We've bent over backwards to make sure we meet all their concerns," Rabe noted. "Really, what it stems from is that we have installations of new technology that really isn't covered well by regulations."
The company is currently investigating the installation of the several hundred thousand FiOS completed before Aug. 1.
"We certainly do not think there is any danger from this," Rabe said.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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User Comments (1)
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Posted by Scott on 10/05/2008, 10:39 Interesting Update On This: An international expet in electrical and grounding arenas has come into NY and looked at Fios installations around the state. He has determined that Fios is not really an issue in terms of electrical dangers, but cable installations often were a danger. To me this just proves what I've been thinking all along: that NY is beingused by Cable who has been screwing the consumer for years with high prices, nd now doesn't want to face the competition. As a follow up, Dr. Stringfellow, and international expert in groundng and electrical issues has confirmed that FiOS installations pose no threa. However, he did say that when examining homes around New York he found a lot of problems with cable installaions. Now if only Verizon would up their political contributions to NY gov’t, they could give cable a taste of their own medicine… http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=726124&category=BUSINESS |
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