IGNORING a tempest in a copper teapot, Fredericksburg City Council voted unanimously this week to grant franchise rights to Verizon to provide high-speed FiOS fiber-optic Internet, TV and phone service to the city.
The move happened in the blink of an eye--no debate, fast as a fiber-optic download.
Verizon will compete in the city with Cox for TV and Internet customers. And the two companies also will go head to head on telephone landline service at the end of this month when Cox introduces its new phone service here.
Competition is good.
The council made the right decision in tuning in fiber optics and tuning out a misleading Associated Press story published the day before the vote falsely suggesting that a consumer revolt is brewing against Verizon over FiOS.
The story, which is all over the Internet, contended that Verizon cuts copper connectivity to homes when installing FiOS, and that "traps customers" and "hampers rivals."
Not true.
The story also makes it seem that Long Island, N.Y. resident Henry Powderly II was angry that he wasn't given the option to keep his copper.
Also not true.
The story fails to note that Powderly is no average Joe consumer. He's a tech blogger for the Long Island Business News who writes about FiOS and had just given it a glowing review.
And he's angrily saying in his blog that the AP seriously misrepresented his views and "used" him to make a contrived point with which he disagrees.
The AP released the following a clarification this week saying, "The story should have noted that Powderly didn't mind being disconnected and that he likes the new service."
Verizon only removes copper wiring when it's suspended in the air from a pole to a home. It won't remove hanging wires if the customer wants them to remain in place. It doesn't even touch underground copper leading to homes that don't have hanging wires.
And it's not difficult to switch back to copper, as the AP story contends. A company spokesman said that if a customer wants the copper line back, Verizon will replace it, free of charge.
"This is a nonissue," said Harry J. Mitchell, Verizon's director of media relations for the Mid-Atlantic region
FiOS was introduced Spotsylvania County in November.
County spokesman Brian Scott said this week that there hasn't been a single call from a Verizon customer complaining about having copper connectivity severed.
The Free Lance-Star has received dozens of calls and e-mails about FiOS, but only from customers upset that the service isn't available in their area yet--many wondering when it will come to Stafford County.
The one real problem is that in a power outage, phones with copper connectivity keep working indefinitely. Fiber optic ones don't. But FiOS comes with backup batteries that provide six to eight hours of power.
The AP story warned that being hooked up for much-faster fiber optic service could reduce the value of a home because high-speed Internet service costs about $10 to $15 a month more than much slower DSL.
That's laughable, even beyond the fact that it can be replaced with ease.
In the not-too-distant future, copper will go the way of the outhouse.
Memories of copper connectivity will be a curious, "I-used-to-have-to-walk-five-miles-to-school" type story to tell incredulous and mocking grandkids.
Back in the '50s and '60s, many telephone users in the Fredericksburg area had "party lines," sharing their phone service with others, like they were waiting in line to use the phone and had no privacy.
That was cheaper than individual line service was later.
Contending that having your house set up for fiber optics reduces its value is like arguing that buyers would pay more for a home with a party line because they could save a few bucks
It's almost like arguing that some might prefer a home with an outhouse. They're cheaper to maintain than indoor plumbing, you know.
Michael Zitz: 540/374-5408