A petition has been filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities by a group of 16 municipalities from four counties. This was the final effort to ensure that Verizon doesn’t abandon the basic home phone service. South Jersey officials and Verizon New Jersey have sparred over the issue of broadband service improvements for two years, reaching levels of contention. This matter eventually reached a pinnacle in May when the BPU approved an accord allowing Verizon to be exempted from certain state regulations for basic home phone services.
The South Jersey officials have reached out to BPU numerous times with enquiries regarding Verizon copper landline infrastructure maintenance in their respective municipalities. South Jersey officials were stubborn on their point while stating that the wireless carrier has continued to push its customers towards vague charges. Many prefer to keep their copper system as it has been proved to be more reliable than a wireless service.
The petition was filed last week and it further included municipalities from Cumberland, Atlantic, and Salem counties. Here are the municipalities pledging support:
- Atlantic County: Estell Manor and Weymouth Township
- Gloucester County: South Harrison Township
- Salem County: Alloway Township, Lower Alloways Creek, Mannington Township, Township of Pilesgrove and Upper Pittsgrove Township.
- Cumberland County: Commercial Township, Downe Township, Hopewell Township, Lawerence Township, Maurince River Township, City of Milliville, Upper Deerfield Township, and Fairfield Township
Cumberland County jointly filed the petition on behalf of all the municipalities who supported voluntarily. They requested that BPU should take strict action so that data, telephone communications, and internet services are equally available to all the residents residing in South Jersey as they are to the others in the state. The petition has ordered BPU to consider potential funding sources that might improve broadband service in South Jersey which is considered much worse than the more affluent areas in the state.
One such funding source that was suggested by officials was the federal Connect America Fund — a $9 billion program that the Federal Communication Commission authorized over the next six years to 10 telecommunication carriers “for rural broadband deployment,” according to the FCC’s website. The FCC plans to “expand broadband to nearly 7.3 million rural consumers in 45 states nationwide and one U.S. territory over the next few years.”
The petition also demands that the BPU direct Verizon to “respond to the allegations” brought by the municipalities and initiate an investigation into the allegations that Verizon has continued to neglect copper landline infrastructure in South Jersey.
“If the BPU does not hear this coalition’s plea, there will be residents and business in three to five years that will not have any recourse with their (landline) phones and wireless,” Facemyer said, noting that wireless is “not a viable alternative in rural South Jersey.”