Coalition Petition Seeks Phone Investigation; If Successful, Cape May County Could Benefit

TRENTON – Nov. 24 Hopewell Township in Cumberland County along with 15 other South Jersey municipalities filed a formal petition with the state Board of Public Utilities to investigate what it claims are serious telecommunication problems with Verizon service.
The 16 municipalities are in Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.
No Cape May County municipality has joined this petition. However, a successful outcome will bring advantages to the county as many government and citizen meetings have discussed inadequate service of Verizon in the county’s rural areas and communities searching for a solution.
The coalition’s complaint states that Verizon has, through neglect, abandoned and retired its copper landline infrastructure in most of South Jersey which severely and negatively impacts the service Verizon provides and degrades the safety and economic well-being of these communities.
The complaint is partly a reaction to a BPU order issued in the spring of this year that deregulates Verizon’s landline service and removes service quality standards in three to five years.
Further per the complaint, in 2014 the BPU issued another order that left these communities without the wired broadband New Jersey was promised by Verizon under a 1993 law entitled “Opportunity New Jersey.”
Among a number of actual examples cited related to this poor service, the complaint describes senior citizens afraid of telephone service failure during a medical emergency; State Police unable to call the parents of a young man involved in a car accident; emergency communication services compromised during severe weather events; loss of business when new orders cannot transmit over copper landlines during wet weather; farmers unable to download field-generated data and thus lose their competitive advantages; and futile economic development efforts without modern and reliable telecommunications infrastructure to attract new business.
According to Greg Facemyer, a Hopewell Township committee member, “These problems are real and they affect our safety and the ability of our students and our businesses to compete in the 21st century. In a region desperate for economic growth, these telecommunications problems handicap our future. Additionally, we believe that Verizon has manipulated the complaint process so that its customer complaint reports do not represent the true seriousness of the issue.”
Verizon rebuts the allegations of the petition by noting through its spokesperson, John Bonomo, in an official statement, “Verizon provides strong customer service to its New Jersey customers. Verizon continues to be one of the state’s largest private investors of capital. 
“Over the last five years, the company has invested more than $4 billion in its wireline network across the state, including targeted investments in the copper network serving customers. Verizon is committed to providing quality service to all of our customers, regardless of where they are. 
“Verizon’s multi-billion investment in its wireline network over the last decade reflects that commitment as well as the fierce competition for communication services that exists across the state, including South Jersey.
“It is in Verizon’s best interest to not only meet our customers’ expectations but to offer the products and services they demand.  We will continue investing throughout the state to ensure that the services provided over our network remain the most reliable and most desirable options for local consumers.”
Bonomo addressed the allegations in the petition by noting Verizon’s “Commitment extends to the more rural parts of the state, where Verizon is investing to maintain reliable service on its network in those areas. Verizon continues to dedicate substantial resources to the maintenance of its copper infrastructure for the benefit of its customers in Southern New Jersey through its Proactive Preventative Maintenance Program. Since January 2014, Verizon New Jersey has spent tens of millions of capital and expense dollars in the Southern New Jersey counties of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem, focusing on new plant investment and maintaining the existing plant in South Jersey.”
In an interview with the Herald, Stefanie Brand, director, NJ Division of Rate Counsel, said, “This petition for a request for investigation concerns lack of adequate service for these communities. Verizon is required to provide proper service and we need to quickly get to the bottom of these potential public safety issues.
“For example, these communities generally only have spotty wireless and they only have cable in town centers.” Brand noted that her office is a party to the petition. The next step is for the BPU to decide if it will open an investigation and that parties are awaiting and expecting Verizon to respond. “There is no specific time frame for the process to unfold but hopefully the Board will act soon,” said Brand.
Facemyer summed up the frustrations of the coalition, “This is not a level playing field, we are severely handicapped by the serious concerns we have with the bad service we receive from Verizon and it is putting all residents, whether they be students, farmers, business people, seniors or the general population at a real disadvantage.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.