New Jersey Rate Counsel Appeals Verizon Reclassification, Seeks Copper-Fiber Probe
The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel is appealing a Board of Public Utilities order that reclassified Verizon wireline services in New Jersey. In a notice to the Superior Court of New Jersey, the Rate Counsel said it was appealing…
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a recent BPU decision that "reclassified as competitive the four remaining rate regulated telephone services provided by Verizon ... throughout New Jersey as well as relinquished Board oversight of service quality ..." The Rate Counsel said the decision should be remanded to the BPU because it violated due process, was contrary to law, and ignored open material and factual issues. A Rate Counsel spokeswoman said the order effectively deregulated the Verizon services. The BPU decision was "four years in the making, with ample input from interested parties with specialized agendas," a Verizon spokesman said. The telco's services weren't deregulated, just reclassified as competitive, he said. "There are various consumer protections and benefits built into the reclassification decision, such as rate caps, Lifeline rates for low-income or senior customers, and repair priority for those with a serious illness or physical disability." In a second filing, which was sparked by a recent consumer complaint, the Rate Counsel asked the BPU to investigate Verizon's copper-to-fiber transition in New Jersey and stop the telco "from disconnecting any customer or switching any customer who has not consented to the change from copper to fiber pending the outcome of that investigation." The company "is modernizing its network for customers in Bloomfield[, New Jersey,] to provide more reliable service, in accordance with all applicable regulations," the spokesman said. "The company is not changing the service being provided, rather simply improving the way the service is delivered."