Verizon: Cablevision Lawsuit Just Another Attempt to Conceal Cablevision's Inferior Broadband Performance, Misleading Consumers
Full Transparency
Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication.
More of our content is being permanently logged via blockchain technology starting [10.23.2020].
Verizon responded in Federal Court late today (Dec. 12) to a lawsuit filed by Cablevision Systems Corp. involving Verizon advertisements that have appeared in metro New York since August, following the Federal Communications Commission's months-long study of Internet speeds. The following statement should be attributed to Verizon:
"This case is about deceptive marketing - Cablevision's. Cablevision's Internet service has been and continues to fall short of what consumers are being told.
"The best that Cablevision can claim is that it is not misrepresenting its broadband speeds quite as much today as in the past.
"Consumers deserve to get the broadband speeds they are promised, but they don't with Cablevision. To try to compete with Verizon's state-of-the-art FiOS services, Cablevision has concealed its inferior broadband performance from consumers for years, and continues to do so today.
"In August, the Federal Communications Commission issued an official report on 'Measuring Broadband America,' available at: www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america. In its study of broadband speeds, the FCC found that the Internet speeds Cablevision actually provided customers fell far below the speeds that Cablevision advertised. But faced with these facts, Cablevision refused to correct its advertising, and continued - and continues to this day - to misinform consumers.
"When customers were most likely to be online, Cablevision delivered broadband service at less than half the speed that Cablevision had promised those customers. Cablevision's dismal performance earned it a dead-last finish in the FCC's 2011 study. Verizon's advertising campaign simply highlights the reality of Cablevision's inferior service to consumers.
"Verizon's advertising claims are correct and true. Despite whatever 'fixes' Cablevision claims to have been recently made, its own evidence proves that, even today, Cablevision's actual speeds still fall short of its advertising.
"Consumers deserve to know who delivers on its advertised services and who doesn't. Consumers should get what they pay for."
Editor's note: Copies of Verizon's legal brief can be obtained by contacting Verizon spokesmen John Bonomo or Bill Kula.
####
