A new report suggests that Verizon is slow to get its grounding fixes off the ground

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

September 19, 2008

3 Min Read
VZ Verifies FiOS Grounding Failures

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is still having trouble making sure all of its FiOS installations in New York are properly grounded, as spelled out in the National Electrical Code, Light Reading has learned.

Improperly grounded optical network terminals (ONTs) aren't exactly the lead-based paint of broadband networks. And they're certainly not as harmful or menacing as AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s battery blow-ups from the past few years. (See AT&T Begins Massive Battery Replacement.) But New York officials have said, in public documents, that they believe "FiOS may form an electrically conductive path both to the outside world as well as other electrically powered devices inside the building."

So, with a lot of urging from its cable competitors, New York state officials have been all over Verizon to do something about its FiOS-connected homes that have failed inspection. The solution, a Network Review Plan that Verizon proposed in July, is taking place now. Verizon has said it will inspect its new and old installations and report those findings to the state, as a first step toward cleaning up whatever harmful specter -- actual or perceived -- lurks outside consumer homes.

According to data filed with the New York Public Service Commission this afternoon, Verizon, in the month of August, inspected more than 15 percent of its installed base of FiOS-connected homes in New York.

The result: a 59 percent failure rate.

Some context: Apparently more than one third of the homes inspected were listed as having "no access," which could mean those homes may have failed by default, since the inspector couldn't reach or access the ONT. Calls to Verizon went unreturned on Friday afternoon.

In its new installations, Verizon fared better, but was far from perfect as the data in the table provided shows:

Table 1: Verizon's New Installation, Grounding Compliance Audit, August 2008

Location

Percentage of New FiOS-installed Homes in Compliance with the National Electrical Code

Staten Island

78

Brooklyn

63

Queens

59

Bronx

79

Manhattan

98

North Suffolk

90

South Suffolk

95

North Nassau

89

South Nassau

93

Western

99

Central

85

Capitol North

82

Capitol South

84

S. Westchester

68

N. Westchester

94

Rockland

89

All of New York State

83

Source: Verizon





For a more complete overview on the FiOS grounding fiasco, with pictures, see Verizon Foes Ground & Pound in New York. The New York Public Service Commission is set to consider "whether to approve, modify, or reject, in whole or in part" Verizon's Network Review Plan on Monday.

Until then, don't put your tongue on anything hanging from a FiOS ONT.

— Phil Harvey, Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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