Verizon Coughs Up The Fiber In New Jersey

from the ok,-ok,-if-you're-nice... dept

Last year, Verizon basically decided to hold fiber in New Jersey hostage unless regulations were changed in their favor. Because they have more or less monopoly rights to installing fiber to the premise and offering service to it in New Jersey, they had no fear that a competitor might come in and challenge them on fiber installations -- meaning they could demand whatever they wanted. The strategy worked. The FCC made it clear that they wouldn't have to share fiber lines and now it appears Verizon is wiring up New Jersey with fiber again. Of course, while the telcos have been whining about how they're being bled dry on line sharing, there's increasing evidence that this is just a ruse from companies that rely on having a monopoly to still have a business model.