A. Verizon Wireless *228

Last month, Verizonpathetic was contacted by CBS News in New York regarding a story on the Verizon Wireless *228 feature.  Rather than explaining the entire situation, the message has been pasted below.  If anyone would like contact information for them, please contact us at feedback@verizonpathetic.com:

"CBS-2 News in New York is working on a consumer story about Verizon Wireless customers needing to dial *228 to avoid being overcharged on their bill.  We are looking for customers who were unaware of this requirement--and as a result, were overcharged on their bill--or who are outraged that Verizon Wireless isn't doing enough to educate its customers about this feature.  I saw some complaints about this issue on your website--is it possible to put me in contact with any of those people?"

B. Bells Handed Partial Defeat by FCC

In our last newsletter we discussed the situation regarding the Bells' shared networks and the pending FCC decision that would have dire consequences for competitors and consumers.

The Bells have argued that they should not have to lease out their networks to competitors (even though these networks were built through the dollars of taxpayers) for either local service or for DSL.  If they succeeded, then it would have been within their rights to "pull the plug" on virtually everyone who offers an option! 

Although victory seemed assured with Colin Powell's son, Michael, as the chairman for the FCC, Michael suffered an embarassing defeat by his peers.  In the ruling, local service will still be fully protected. This was the main objective of the Bells because of the lucrative nature of local service, however they will have to find another means of putting their competitors out of business.  DSL however was not so fortunate and the Bells will be given more control. 

You can read three articles by the L.A. Times and the Washington Post that discuss the decision by clicking here.

C. Momentum Building 

If you have been with Verizonpathetic for a year or more, you are likely to be familiar with our work to shed light on the "Vaporware" scandal.  For those of you not familiar with this term, it refers to audits that were conducted on the Bell companies three years ago.  Those audits turned up billions of dollars of missing equipment and discrepancies that were reminiscent of Enron/Worldcom.

Through the work of Teletruth.org, Verizonpathetic, and other agencies, we have managed to finally catch the interest of the media.  Both Forbes and Yahoo have covered the story in detail which is now leading to further media coverage.  You can view the Forbes article on our server by clicking here.

D.  Your Vote Counts in New York

The bill S.406 (the Public Utility Truth in Reporting and Workers Protection Act) establishes penalties for knowingly making false or fraudulent statments to the Public Service Commission (PSC.) It also prohibits any retaliatory action against any employee who provides information to the PSC or a regulatory body (the state legislature) about management's falsification of data.  It is sad that legislature like this is even necessary, and even worse that there are those who will obstruct it's passing.

Two other bills, A.1456 & S.2623, will reinstitute regulatory practices that are used around the country. This will put back the time clock and impose fines and rebates.  This was originally done because the PSC has relaxed their standards.  Verizon employees are suffering and being laid off because the company is not held to the old standards that used to be enforced while Verizon's top exec's are cashing in at their expense.

Although Verizonpathetic has issues with the decision makers at Verizon, the everyday workers at the company are good people who deserve fairness.  Your legislators must know how important these bills are because you will need every vote to overerride a projected Governor Pataki veto.