(Philadelphia, October 31, 2016) – The City of Philadelphia today announced the results of its verification of the cable deployment carried out by Verizon Pennsylvania Inc. to make FIOS cable service available to all residents.

By way of background, in 2009 Verizon Pennsylvania Inc. signed a cable franchise agreement with the City of Philadelphia requiring Verizon to make FIOS cable service available to 100% of the residents of the City by February 26^th, 2016.  Following the deadline, Verizon claimed they met their contractual commitment of 100% but for certain exceptions specifically permitted under the agreement.  These exceptions cover 125,330 housing units, or “households,” in the City.

After the City examined Verizon’s records and performed a number of technical and operational reviews, the City has determined that Verizon’s claimed exceptions for 102,908 of the housing units are valid.  The City, though, does not agree with Verizon’s exceptions for the remainder: 22,422 single family units (SFUs), which comprise less than 3% of the 781,466[1] total households in the City.

The City contends that these units cannot be claimed as exceptions since permits to build in the rights-of-way were either applied for after the February 26 deadline, or too close to the deadline to ensure the work would be completed by the deadline.  Verizon disputes the City’s findings with respect to the validity of exceptions it believes should be applied to those units.

It should be noted that Verizon’s claimed exceptions which the City found valid include 79,210 households in multiple dwelling units (MDUs).  These would largely be apartment houses and condo buildings.  For 12,447 of the MDU households, Verizon is presently negotiating building access agreements so these units will be able to secure service.  Verizon claims exceptions for the remaining 66,763 MDU units after attempts to gain entry to the building have been expressly denied by the landlord or homeowners or condo association, or no response was received after multiple requests for entry.  To confirm these are valid exceptions, the City conducted random sampling of these units and examined Verizon records demonstrating their attempts to secure entry.

The City urges residents of multiple dwelling units who have requested FIOS service and were told that service was unavailable to contact their landlord or condo association, to ensure that Verizon has not been denied entry to the building.

The areas of the City with the most residents unable to receive FIOS service are zip codes 19103, 19106, 19107, 19114, 19116, 19143, 19146, 19147 and 19154.

“The City’s ultimate goal is to ensure that Verizon completes its cable service deployment in the City — so every resident has an opportunity to get FIOS service,” said Mayor Jim Kenney.

To further achieve that goal, Verizon and the City have agreed to a plan in order to resolve this dispute.  Verizon will donate $350,000 to the City to expand digital inclusion efforts for the City’s underserved children.  This money will be overseen by the previously-established Digital Alliance Board.  The plan will also include a cooperation agreement memorializing the City and Verizon’s agreed-upon efforts to move the remaining FiOS deployment forward to timely completion, as well as an updated schedule with penalties if Verizon does not meet the new agreed upon deadline.

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[1]  This 781,466 total is Verizon’s total household count for the City.  It exceeds the 2010 Census housing unit count by 111,295.  Verizon contends this is the true number of households in the City based on its walkout and design of the City, and further indicates that its number is higher because of additional housing units that have been built since the 2010 Census, units that have been subdivided since the Census, and multiple cable accounts at the same address, each of which Verizon counts as a separate household where the Census would count only one household.