State Concerned That Verizon NJ Renewal Will Slow Fiber Deployments

Verizon New Jersey, a relative newcomer to delivering cable TV programming to customers, has racked up impressive numbers luring subscribers away from traditional providers since winning its statewide franchise in 2006.

So far, it has signed up more than 600,000 customers in about 352 municipalities in 19 counties around the state. In New Jersey, its investment in laying new fiber optic lines to deliver cable and Internet service and conventional copper-line capabilities has totaled more than $4 billion, according to company executives -- a big boost to the state’s economy. Its fiber optic system has bypassed more than 2.2 million New Jersey homes.

Still, some state regulators ask, "Is that all there is?"

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, a telecom giant with annual revenues of $113 billion, is hoping to win renewal of its statewide cable franchise from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The matter will be subject to public hearings before the agency early next month.

Verizon argues in its petition that it has achieved all of the requirements in the original approval by the BPU seven year ago, a stance not largely contested by state regulators.

Read more at NJSpotlight.com