Verizon kills copper

A FIRM called Verizon Communications is pulling out its copper wire services even though it legally has to keep wire in the ground for its competitors.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Verizon is rushing to install some flashy new fibre optic cable but is also removing the old copper cable it has in the ground.

There are several advantages to this for Verizon. Its high-bandwidth fibre lines can handle much more bandwidth and it does not have to lease this network to its rivals. The old copper networks have to be leased.

Fibre is also a lot more lucrative to Verizon than the cheaper DSL technology as it charges more than double for similar bandwidth.

The Tribune said that not only has Verizon been routinely disconnecting the copper, it is not giving punters a choice over which service they use.

Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumer Federation of America, claimed Verizon is snipping the wires because it does not want to maintain the copper network and wants to kill off competition.

The FCC allows the retirement of copper as long as public notice is given so the phone companies can work together to ensure the smaller companies' access.

One ISP said it was like letting General Motors build a highway and deciding what size cars to let on the road More here. µ