CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Despite shifts in Verizon’s approach to copper landlines, West Virginia’s Public Service Commission wants residents across the Mountain State to know that telephone service is not in jeopardy.
Verizon, which purchased Frontier last year, plans to modernize its service in West Virginia and other states in the region. The company recently sent out notices to customers stating that it may replace some of its copper-based telephone services with fiber, wireless, or other “modern services.” The PSC put out a release to reassure customers that those notices don’t mean that telephone service is going off anytime soon.
PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said that Verizon has gone to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ask for permission to revamp service in the region. As part of that, she said, Verizon must notify customers about these potential changes.
“The FCC has required Verizon to send out these notices and we put out the press release because we don’t want people to get alarmed, and think that their (service) is going to be terminated,” Lane told MetroNews.
Those notices are sheerly informational at this point, she said. While the PSC approved Verizon’s purchase of Frontier, it directed the company to set aside $60 million to upgrade their infrastructure. Lane said that was because, when those hearings took place, they heard a lot of concerns about breakdowns in the copper service. She said the $60 million was to ensure that landline service will remain.
Lane said that order doesn’t necessarily require Verizon to keep copper service; it could be replaced.
“I am confident that they are going to comply with our order,” Lane said. “Our order does allow them to, if they have to do an upgrade, instead of replacing the copper, they can do it with fiber.”
Lane said the PSC is committed to protecting customers, regardless of whether a shift takes place.
“The customers who have landlines that are affected by that, will still receive service at the same rate that they’re paying now,” Lane said. “We are looking out for the customers who have no other choice but to be served by Verizon.”
She said that some customers are forced to use Verizon for service because where they live, cell phone service isn’t available.
Lane admitted that she doesn’t know how many places Verizon will change from copper. She said there is an opportunity for them to change it, if need be.
“They’re going to have to keep copper,” Lane said. “But, if they decide that the copper is not working correctly and they want to change it out, they can change it to fiber as long as the customer still has service at the same rate.”
For customers who would be affected by a switch from copper, Lane said, they’d get a second notice. All in all, she said, the PSC wanted to let the FCC know its position on the change.
“We have intervened in the FCC case and said that ‘Verizon cannot abandon their landline service,'” Lane said. “That they are a service of last resort, and we are not going to allow them to back off from that.”