Low net speeds due to area + high prices?

[dtaylo05]

I'm beyond frustrated with Verizon on this exact same issue.

I've tried contacting corporate officials over this to no avail. Verizon just keeps ignoring any requests for assistance here.

We have DSL - and a growing population. The CLLI was actually so overwhelmed they had a waiting list that "spanned years" according to Verizon Customer Service. I had to fight to get the previous homeowner's account transferred to my name so I could keep the service - otherwise if they cancelled it, the slot would go to someone else on the waiting list. To make matters worse, Verizon "transposed" an account number and randomly disconnected my service one day, forcing me to have to fight with them for over a week to get service restored (again, because the CLLI is overbooked - they tried to put me on the waiting list), only to have them jack the price up $20 a month.

Fast forward to this year - I'm notified that my bill is going up again. Another $10 a month. Now I'm paying $80/month for DSL speeds of 2.5mbps down/ 0.5 up. Verizon's reasoning for the price increase? Because the "cost of maintaining the infrastructure has increased".  This is quite an excuse considering they have done zero maintenance on this infrastructure here in 20+ years. I have photographs of the telephone boxes at the end of my road, hanging wide open, doors flapping in the breeze, totally exposed to the elements, as the tangled, aged wire loops get rained on, snowed on, and on and on. Why should we have to pay extra to offset their failure to maintain the infrastructure in the first place? And why aren't these increased costs going to actually maintaining the crumbling infrastructure here?

I've heard every excuse from Verizon - "its the wiring in your house" - wrong, I've actually run tests from the box on the house - straight from their lines at the road, and gotten the same horrid speeds. "You're too far from the CLLI" - of course, those speeds have nothing to do with poorly maintained infrastructure with wiring exposed to the elements diminishing speeds, right?

I pay $80 a month for something that is 0.6% of the speed of the communities nearby who have FiOS AND pay $20 less a month.

Of course, when you explore other options you're left with satellite internet, which I refuse to go down that road. I download and upload a lot of files for work, so data caps are out of the question. Verizon's LTE Home Internet is not available here because DSL is available. Comcast is nearby but no plans to expand there either. So, thanks to a lack of any regulatory oversight, Verizon continues to charge us ridiculous prices for 1990s internet, using every excuse in the book to keep from having to accept responsibility for lack of maintenance and interest, and continue to overlook the areas outside the urban centers. I know fiber optics are expensive - I'm no fool to this. I've been following internet installations closely nearby and seen invoices totaling $10,000/mile for fiber optic installation, not to mention the costs of the data centers, IPs, etc. But for what Verizon is doing to us price wise now, they should be able to recoup the cost in no time. I'd gladly pay $100/month if I could have anything close to what those around us with FiOS get for speeds.

Verizon - DO something!

[dtaylo05]

Correct, Satellite, although free of "data caps" still throttle you to abhorrent speeds, on top of high latency, regardless of their claims. All in the fine print.

As I stated in another post, Verizon jacked my bill up to $80 a month now for 2.5mbps down/0.5 up.

It is astonishing that this is allowed. Shame on Verizon for this practice. Claims about it costing more to maintain copper is just absurd. Customers shouldn't have to pay more because you failed to maintain it in the first place. If my bill went up with the excuse that they are offsetting some cost of deploying fiber optic to the area, then I'd gladly pay without hesitation.

Verizon - what do you plan to do for your DSL customers? Continue to jack up prices and bleed us dry?

What is more infuriating is seeing where FiOS is in some areas. "It won't come to rural areas" yet I've seen it in areas with lower housing density than where I am now.

[jonjones1]

You are in a catch-22 in that Verizon wants to get out of the copper and into fibre optics.

in some states such as New York they are somewhat in a catch 22 with state regulators.

they have to maintain the lines until they can actually go with fibre optics.

a good case in point is if you wanted to get a Verizon fibre optic phone service, they come to your house and if possible install Fios digital phone. (I don’t use them for phone or tv) 

at my mother in laws home they took her off copper and placed her on the newer technology. However she said it does not function as her old service and they actually are charging her much more money.  However Verizon has tried to have her leave charter cable for Verizon Fios offering a two year price of $79.99 for the phone and Fios internet. They also wrote her offering her tv service as well. For the combo package she would save money just on what her phone costs. But if she took the triple play it would still be $200 less a month then she pays with Spectrum. But that is none of my business.

your other concern could be to contact your state regulators about Verizon’s pricing on a lesser technology. They are raising the rates to get rid of copper customers that are in the way of progress. It’s simply a business decision.