Cuomo to Verizon: First, Fix The Phones

New York state Attorney General Andy Cuomo has criticized Verizon, which provides local telephone service on the East Coast, for “chronically poor” telephone repair service, reports Reuters.

Verizon, which became a significant federal contractor when it bought MCI in 2005, is seeking permission from New York regulators to expand “its fiber-optic network to offer high-speed Internet and video services, along with phone services, to compete with cable,” Reuters reports.

But Cuomo wants the company to improve its telephone repair service before expanding. He wants the state’s Public Service Commission to hold Verizon to a promise to repair 80 percent of phone lines within 24 hours of receiving a customer repair request, “but 20 out of Verizon's 35 repair service bureaus across the state chronically failed to meet the PSC's standards, Cuomo said," according to Reuters.

A Verizon spokesman told Reuters the company is improving service levels and that “upgrading to a fiber-optic network would also improve the quality of phone services.”