Verizon slowly exiting copper business

[David Kulp]

If it wasn't obvious already, the latest news from Verizon clearly indicates that they have no interest in improving broadband in rural areas.  The FCC offered millions of dollars from the Universal Service Fund to the major telecoms to improve broadband speeds so that rural users can get at least 10 Mb/s download (most DSL in Ashfield is 3 Mb/s).  Verizon took only a small portion of the money offered to it, passing up on $550M including a portion of that money allocated for Massachusetts.

http://potsandpansbyccg.com/2015/09/08/big-telcos-take-caf-ii-funding/

The upside is that now that money will be available to the smaller telcos next year.  The downside is that WiredWest will probably not yet have the necessary credentials to apply for the money.  Still, it is likely that other USF money will be made available for rural broadband in the future.

[Christopher Gray]

I wanted to add a note about Verizon and DSL. There are plenty of signs suggesting Verizon is backing out of DSL and copper based services. This does not mean, however, that Ashfield is going to lose its DSL or copper based services in the near future. 

Verizon is not simply shutting off service. Verizon is exiting the copper business through sale of its assets. Based on some other examples, if they do choose to sell in our area, I suspect they would sell to Frontier (Frontier does not have a presence in our state to my knowledge, but they are expanding in nearby states). For locations that rely on copper services for one reason or another, there should be little cause for concern. I'd like to think the copper will sell and receive some much-needed maintenance.

-Chris

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