FCC to Ask Verizon for More Information About Fire Island, N.Y., Plan
The FCC intends to ask Verizon for further information about the scope of its wireless services on Fire Island, N.Y., according to an Excel spreadsheet that was posted Wednesday on the commission’s EDOCs site. After a Communications Daily reporter contacted the FCC Wireline Bureau regarding the item, it was removed from the site. Verizon has sought FCC permission to discontinue its copper services after Superstorm Sandy destroyed much of Verizon’s infrastructure there.
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The FCC will release two public notices, said a commission official. The official said that one requests more data from Verizon on the Fire Island discontinuance, and another stops the auto-grant process that would automatically grant the Communications Act Section 214 request unless the commission takes action. Several groups have opposed the request. Some CLECs worry that granting the request could prejudge issues involved in the overall Internet Protocol transition, while public interest groups have raised questions about suitability of Verizon’s planned Voice Link fixed wireless service as a replacement (CD July 31 p4).
The spreadsheet, with the heading “Data request VZW Fire Island,” seeks information on antenna location, backup power capacity, voice traffic and data traffic. In general, the spreadsheet seeks data on “the average busy hour voice and data traffic at each Verizon site,” by technology group and spectrum band, said accompanying instructions in one of the worksheets. The spreadsheet asks Verizon to “provide two sets of projected data,” one “assuming that Verizon’s discontinuance request is granted,” and another “assuming that the request is not granted.”
The FCC plans to release more information, an agency spokesman told us. “The questions asked appear to go to basic reliability and quality of service,” said Senior Vice President Harold Feld of Public Knowledge, which has had concerns about Verizon’s IP transition plan. “If there is insufficient antenna coverage, quality of the signal will not match what is considered reasonable for a copper line. In addition, this goes to the congestion question. If the wireless service experiences significant periods of congestion -- such as on weekends -- then the service cannot reliably reach 911. All of these aspects are important in measuring whether substituting Voice Link for copper ‘impairs’ service to the community.”
"In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy,” Verizon “has worked to get voice services restored to those areas of New York and New Jersey hardest hit,” said a spokesman. “We have been in regular and ongoing communications with the FCC, and we'll continue to do so as the FCC considers our 214 filing. We encourage the FCC to complete its review of this narrow petition limited to these discrete communities quickly.”