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Larry Babbio in 2003 announced a plan for a once in a generation transformation of nearly all of Verizon lines to fiber. They've built the best large network in the Western world for half their customers, but 15M Verizon homes remain unfibered. They did the rich suburbs first, and their decision to stop unexpectedly is hurting people of color in particular. Congressman Markey warned about redlining in 2005. Verizon's Jack Hoey explained "the only reason the company has so far disclosed service deployments in suburbs is because construction is faster and easier there. 'We're very anxious to provide a choice for broadband and cable services to not only suburban but also urban customers, without question, unequivocally,'"   (Peter Howe, Boston Globe)  The city has long been ready to start. “We’ve been standing on our heads saying we’ll work with you,’’ said Mike Lynch, director of Boston’s Office of Cable Communications to Hiawatha Bray of the Globe.

     Instead, Boston will apparently never be reached, although FiOS is in most of the affluent suburbs. Baltimore may be in a similar position. In 2007 Sandy Arnette of Verizon said they'll reach the city. “Stay tuned -- recognizing that we cannot build a fiber-optic network everywhere at once. We'll work through these issues in Baltimore knowing it's a good market for us.” (Jay Hancock, Baltimore Sun)   In New York in 2008, Verizon had fiber to 100% of mostly white Staten Island, but only 6% of the Bronx.  (Josh Breitbart, Gotham Gazette).

      Because Babbio and Seidenberg were both so clear they intended to reach most Verizon homes, I believe those were honest statements at the time. Babbio is now gone and Seidenberg about to retire. John Killian and Lowell McAdam, heirs apparent, don't have Ivan's competitive edge. Ivan himself had an epiphany last summer which he shared in his "Voice is Dying" speech at Goldman Sachs.  It appears that soon after a strategic decision was made to stop FiOS after 2010 except where formal commitments had been made. Last fall, they canceled work in Alexandria, Virginia, which they had told the city was set to begin after they got a franchise; they've now formally backed away from the city.

Special thanks to Hiawatha Bray, Pete Howe, Josh Breitbart, Jay Hancock and Bryant Ruiz Switzky for the reporting that made these articles possible. Communities are paying a heavy price as newspapers are dying and reporting like this becomes scarce. I had placed this article temporarily on hold pending data from Verizon to confirm their assertion of errors above. Despite two requests, they provided no contrary data.