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from: Newsday

Suffolk legislator pushing Verizon for equal rollouts
Can you hear him now?

BY JULIET CHENG
juliet.chung@newsday.com

July 12, 2007, 4:01 PM EDT

Claiming Verizon would discriminate against minority and low-income communities if the town of Islip grants it a cable franchise agreement -- an action the town is considering -- Suffolk County Legis. Ricardo Montano is pushing for the telecom giant to commit to thorough service rollout terms and penalized if it fails to meet those terms.

According to Montano (D-Central Islip), Verizon has already wired for service communities including Oakdale, West Sayville and portions of Ronkonkoma, while communities he represents, including Brentwood, Central Islip and part of Islandia, are slated to be wired later.

But Verizon officials, who sharply dispute Montano's allegations, said work has already begun in Brentwood, Central Islip and Islandia.

But Montano said his concerns were unabated.

"The devil is in the details," said Montano, who said his data came from a service map provided by Cablevision. Cablevision has been Islip's sole cable provider, and Verizon's entry into the town would spark competition.

"I think we need to verify the extent [of work being done], and really, it's also an issue of completion," Montano said. "You started, when are you going to be done?"

Verizon officials said Verizon was committed -- and required by federal and state law -- to offer service in a timely and non-discriminatory manner.

Decisions about what communities would be wired first, and which later, at no time factored in demographics, said Monica Azare, Verizon's senior vice president in New York. They were instead based on engineering and logistical considerations, such as where Verizon was able to obtain permits more quickly, she said.

She would not specify this week the sequence and timeline by which the rest of Islip would be wired, citing ongoing talks with Islip.

Islip is scheduled to hold its first public hearing on the possible franchise agreement with Verizon July 27th, 1:30 p.m., at Town Hall; the town board will decide whether to enter into an agreement.