Hold those Voice Link comments until September, said...
Hold those Voice Link comments until September, said the New York State Public Service Commission (http://bit.ly/13htb6I). The PSC had requested comments on Verizon’s fixed wireless service, intended as a sole offering to replace basic service landlines on Fire Island, by…
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Tuesday but delayed the deadline to Sept. 13. It changed the date “to allow customers and other interested parties sufficient time to fully evaluate Voice Link service during the summer months,” said a PSC notice. AARP New York already posted its comments as well as elaborated on its concerns in a news release Monday. Voice Link poses public safety concerns to older Americans and “it does not support critically important services such as Life Alert and home security systems,” AARP said in comments (http://bit.ly/11YQXOs), also worrying about the product’s reliance on wireless networks. Communications Workers of America Research Economist Pete Sikora also flagged lack of Life Alert support, in an interview. “Voice Link creates a possible incentive for Verizon to allow its copper network to deteriorate and for it to abandon its copper outside plant prematurely,” AARP said. “When outside plant is inadequately maintained, consumers’ safety is jeopardized because their dial tones may not function when they need to reach emergency services.” It pointed to Voice Link’s inability to make collect calls or dial 0 to reach an operator. “AARP urges the Commission to deny those elements in Verizon’s proposed Voice Link tariff that are broader than the limited temporary use on Fire Island,” AARP said. “Verizon should not have the sole discretion to decide which communities would be relegated to less reliable voice services.” AARP argued the Verizon proposal before the PSC is too broad and encouraged strict oversight of any deployment, which should be limited. “In many cases this move could leave New York consumers in a worse situation come the next major storm,” said AARP New York Director Beth Finkel in a statement.