Verizon Promises Not To Redline Broadband Access

Verizon will not “redline”, or favor wealthier customers at the expense of poorer ones, as it rolls out its video service access, despite the cable industry’s contention otherwise, Verizon chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg said at SuperComm today. “We’re happy to commit that when we go in and deploy we’re not going to redline,” he told reporters, decribing the red line talk as a “political tool.”
During his public session, he stressed the need for legislative changes. “We need to update the telecom laws for the 21st century, particularly those related to broadband services. And we need to simplify and reform the franchising process that is acting as a barrier to video competition.” (The telecoms want franchise rules changed to allow statewide licensing rather than the time-consuming local approvals that requires specific agreements with each local franchise authority. Cable companies for decades have been locked into local franchising and don’t think the telecoms should be treated differently.)
Also from the session:

– By the end of June, V-Cast customers will have downloaded more than 200 million applications.

– “… speed sells. In fact, FiOS is penetrating the market faster than any other consumer product you can think of — PCs, DVDs, even wireless.”

eWeek on the lucrative broadband business services market.
Press release | Transcript

Comments have been disabled for this post