How many of you still have traditional landline phones? Probably not too many. Now let me ask when was the last time you even gave a thought to connect your Smartphone with a hardwire connection? Probably never.
With the world of wireless upon us, the buzzword is now mobility and having access anywhere in the world at any time. In order to achieve this goal of 100% mobility, Verizon announced last week that it has now started to transition its existing customer base into a totally wireless environment.
The first group of customers for which this is happening is those located in Falls Church, VA. According to recent FCC filings, Verizon will be replacing all of its copper distribution and loop facilities with fiber optic cabling.
Along with residential customers, some 230+ plus businesses will also benefit from this transition as well. In terms of future conversions, Verizon is anticipating that it will convert over 200,000 customers to fiber optic cabling by the end of this year.
According to the filings, “customers will continue to be able to buy services over the more reliable network as they do in other areas where we [Verizon] have retired copper and deployed fiber.”
Despite the advantages of upgrading to the new fiber optic cabling, there has been some controversy surrounding it. Probably the biggest one has been with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
They claim that Verizon has engaged in a practice known as de facto copper retirement. This is where “. . . a telecom would let its aging copper plant deteriorate to the point where it would become necessary to replace the copper with fiber.”
The CWA has asked both state and federal authorities across twelve different states (which include Maryland and Pennsylvania) to further investigate this. As might be expected, Verizon is vehemently denying these allegations.
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