http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wned/local-wned-968414.mp3
Verizon continues to feel pressure to offer its high speed fiber optic FiOS service in the city of Buffalo. It's considered to be 100 times faster than the majority of internet services.
That includes the activists behind Don’t Bypass Buffalo, a campaign to persuade Verizon to bring the service to minority communities. They’ve just released a study showing where Verizon has chosen not to provide the service, and which populations have been excluded as a result.
By missing out on this fiber optic network, economic development in Buffalo’s city core is further stunted, says Alison Duwe with the Coalition for Economic Justice, a Don’t Bypass Buffalo partner.
“We believe that corporations in general should be good public citizens and good public stewards. And this seems like a clear case of Verizon Corporation, which is a highly-profitable, multi-national company, choosing to invest only in suburban areas and by passing the city of Buffalo,” Duwe says.
Verizon has invested in more affluent communities like Orchard Park, West Seneca and Hamburg, the report argues. Less than five percent of the population of area suburbs consists of minorities, compared to 45 percent of the city:
Verizon’s decision not to offer FiOS to the people of Buffalo leaves people of color unable to access the same state-of-the-art service as their neighbors.
Campaign founder Janique Curry says the statistics paint a picture.
“I don’t want to say it’s a racial issue. I think it’s just something they haven’t looked at,” she says. “The numbers are definitely there and the numbers definitely indicate something. But I don’t want to say that’s why they’ve determined why they’re not coming into the city of Buffalo yet.”
Since the campaign launched a month ago, Verizon officials have not indicated that service will be expanded, Curry says. But Verizon has agreed to meet with coalition leaders next week.
Other cities, like Dallas, have faced similar situations with Verizon.
“Essentially it’s telling us that they’re not interested in the city of Buffalo. But obviously Buffalo is the hub of this region,” Curry says. “We don’t want to come out and say they’re doing this on purpose. But we want to point [it] out to them to make sure they’re aware that this is a viable economic community. And we have a lot to contribute - as much to contribute as those in the suburbs.”
