Mayors of 14 major northeast cities including New York, asked Verizon to fulfill its promise of building up a high-speed internet network and home phone services. On October 1st, a letter to Verizon’s CEO, Lowell McAdam, had been sent by the mayors and they have urged the company to provide a brief explanation for why it is unable to provide a high-speed network and why it has not completed its FiOS internet network across the northeast.

Defending the same, Verizon has stated that it has met all the requirements and the present situation has been misinterpreted by the mayors. Verizon feels there has been some kind of miscommunication amongst the mayors. The letter has come at a point when Verizon has continued to negotiate a 3-year contract which is comprised of 39000 unionized workers recognized by Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The unions of Verizon previously threatened that they will go on strike but later they decided not to do so when the contract expired. Regardless of this, neither party has been unable to agree on job security protection as well as an employee benefit. A million residents in the Northeast have been left without FiOS Internet service that was planned by Verizon, according to the letter sent by the mayor. Verizon failed to meet legislative and other deadlines and in some cases, to make the services available after which Verizon refused to build the network altogether.

In addition, the letter also says that Verizon has been abandoning its traditional copper-based network and has stopped providing needful services to its subscribers. In certain cases, it states, “traditional landline customers are experiencing frequent service outages, delays in repairs and installations, and forced migration to the inferior” products.

Defending their company, Verizon spokesperson, John J. Bonomo said, “Since Verizon started bargaining this year with the CWA, we’ve seen numerous half-baked and inaccurate letters and statements from union leaders regarding Verizon’s FiOS commitments and more. It’s all nonsense.” He also added, “The reality is that all of these misguided PR stunts are an attempt by union leaders to try and force the company to hire more union-represented employees which will, in turn, increase dues and revenues for the union. It won’t work.”