Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc. has told Comcast Corp. that its Verizon-bashing "Don't Fall for FiOS" advertisements are false and asked the cable giant to fix them in a "cease and desist" letter. Among other advertising claims, Comcast says that a comparable triple-play bundle of TV, phone and Internet service from Verizon can cost $400 more a year, after promotions expire, than one from Comcast. Verizon would challenge the advertisements' truthfulness through the National Advertising Division of the Councils of Better Business Bureaus if Comcast failed to change them, Verizon vice president Eric Rabe said yesterday.

WASHINGTON - Verizon Communications Inc. has paid $93.5 million to settle allegations that it overcharged the federal government, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed by Stephen Shea, a "whistle-blower" in 2007, and alleged overbilling as far back as 1999, first by MCI Communications, and later by Verizon, which bought MCI in 2006. The lawsuit alleged that Verizon had billed the government for "tax-like" surcharges that it wasn't entitled to impose on the government, according to the law firm representing Shea, Phillips & Cohen LLP. "This settlement concludes efforts by both parties to resolve this dispute amicably, without further litigation," said Verizon spokesman Peter Lucht.

NEW YORK - Challenging Netflix, phone company Verizon Communications Inc. said that it will start a video-streaming service later this year in cooperation with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks. Verizon and Coinstar Inc., Redbox's parent, said that the service will be national and available to non-Verizon customers. It adds another leg to Verizon's quest to become a force in home entertainment, and positions the company to compete to some extent with the cable-TV services it already sells.

Mayor Nutter is expected to announce today that Verizon Communications Inc. will relocate several hundred jobs into a former Bell Atlantic building in the 900 block of Race Street in Chinatown. A news conference is set for this morning at City Hall for the announcement. Verizon, which is based in New York, employs 2,000 in Philadelphia and, among other operations, has a video hub for its FiOS TV service on Oregon Avenue. The company does not have a license to offer FiOS TV in the city.

NEW YORK - After a customer backlash, Verizon Wireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit or debit cards. In a statement on its website Friday, the company said "customer feedback" prompted the decision to drop the "convenience fee" it wanted to introduce on Jan. 15. The FCC had already announced that it would be looking into the proposed fee. "On behalf of American consumers, we're concerned about Verizon's actions and are looking into the matter," an FCC official said in an e-mailed statement only minutes before news broke of the plan to abandon the proposed fee. Verizon wanted to steer people to electronic check payments, which are cheaper, and automatic credit card payments, which are more reliable.

In a high-stakes strike like the one between Verizon and its 45,000 union employees, the battle for public opinion is almost as important as the nitty-gritty wrangling at the bargaining table. Verizon Communications Inc. will launch its first television spot in Philadelphia on Thursday, the same day that the Communications Workers of America runs its first print advertising in the Philadelphia region. The company already has been running print and radio advertising. "It's the brand reputation of the organization that is at stake," said Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication.

Verizon Communications Inc. has launched FiOS TV and Internet in three neighborhoods in the city - Chestnut Hill, South Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, near Girard College. Elizabeth "Jane" Kilduff, in Chestnut Hill, is one of the company's first new customers. She signed up for Verizon's "triple play" at a promotional price of $79 a month for six months and $109 for the next 18 months. She estimates she will save $4,000 in the two years when compared with her previous service with Comcast for cable TV and Verizon for phone and Internet service.

For more than 10 hours yesterday, thousands of people and small businesses in Pennsylvania and Delaware lost the high-speed DSL Internet connection they buy from Verizon Communications Inc., which is battling fiercely with Comcast Corp. for their business. The system crash, which affected customers throughout Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania as far north as the Lehigh Valley, occurred before dawn as technicians were trying to install a software upgrade, said Sharon B. Shaffer, a spokeswoman for Verizon in Philadelphia.

A Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission judge is to decide today how much Verizon Communications Inc. can charge competitors for using its statewide phone network. The decision could affect whether consumers will be able to shop around for local-phone service. The full PUC will use Administrative Law Judge Michael C. Schnierle's decision and other data to make a final ruling on the rates, most likely by midyear. Verizon argues that the prices it is now allowed to charge competitors for leasing parts of its local-phone network are below its own costs.

Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest local-telephone company, won Justice Department backing yesterday to sell long-distance telephone service in New Jersey. The company already offers long-distance service in Pennsylvania. The department did raise some concerns about the prices that Verizon charges rival telephone companies that want to provide local service using Verizon phone lines. But in recommending that the Federal Communications Commission approve Verizon's long-distance application, the department wrote: "The record in this matter suggests that Verizon has succeeded in opening its local markets in New Jersey to competition in most respects.

NEW YORK - Challenging Netflix, phone company Verizon Communications Inc. said that it will start a video-streaming service later this year in cooperation with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks. Verizon and Coinstar Inc., Redbox's parent, said that the service will be national and available to non-Verizon customers. It adds another leg to Verizon's quest to become a force in home entertainment, and positions the company to compete to some extent with the cable-TV services it already sells.

NEW YORK - After a customer backlash, Verizon Wireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit or debit cards. In a statement on its website Friday, the company said "customer feedback" prompted the decision to drop the "convenience fee" it wanted to introduce on Jan. 15. The FCC had already announced that it would be looking into the proposed fee. "On behalf of American consumers, we're concerned about Verizon's actions and are looking into the matter," an FCC official said in an e-mailed statement only minutes before news broke of the plan to abandon the proposed fee. Verizon wanted to steer people to electronic check payments, which are cheaper, and automatic credit card payments, which are more reliable.

In a high-stakes strike like the one between Verizon and its 45,000 union employees, the battle for public opinion is almost as important as the nitty-gritty wrangling at the bargaining table. Verizon Communications Inc. will launch its first television spot in Philadelphia on Thursday, the same day that the Communications Workers of America runs its first print advertising in the Philadelphia region. The company already has been running print and radio advertising. "It's the brand reputation of the organization that is at stake," said Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication.

Bargaining resumed Wednesday in Philadelphia and New York between Verizon Communications and the two unions representing 45,000 operators, technicians, and customer service agents that have been on strike since early Sunday morning. But the two sides are far apart, and it's not likely a settlement will be reached soon, said union officials from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communication Workers of America. A Verizon spokesman declined to characterize the state of negotiations, but earlier reports that a tentative agreement had been reached were wrong, company and union officials agreed.

NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc. is seeing a big boost from the iPhone, adding more new wireless subscribers on contracts in this year's second quarter than it has in 21/2 years, the company reported Friday. Even so, AT&T Inc., which was the exclusive seller of Apple Inc.'s iconic phone in the United States until February, still activates three iPhones for every two Verizon does. Verizon made the subscriber announcement in its second-quarter earnings report. The company also said chief operating officer Lowell McAdam, 57, would become chief executive officer Aug. 1, taking over from longtime CEO Ivan Seidenberg, 64, on Aug. 1. Seidenberg will remain chairman of the company.

WASHINGTON - Verizon Communications Inc. has paid $93.5 million to settle allegations that it overcharged the federal government, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed by Stephen Shea, a "whistle-blower" in 2007, and alleged overbilling as far back as 1999, first by MCI Communications, and later by Verizon, which bought MCI in 2006. The lawsuit alleged that Verizon had billed the government for "tax-like" surcharges that it wasn't entitled to impose on the government, according to the law firm representing Shea, Phillips & Cohen LLP. "This settlement concludes efforts by both parties to resolve this dispute amicably, without further litigation," said Verizon spokesman Peter Lucht.

Everyone these days seems to be talking about the post-DVD age. Netflix has gone to streaming over the Internet, a service that Sandvine Corp., a research firm, says consumes about 20 percent of the Internet's bandwidth some nights. And Hollywood is experimenting with new ways to sell TV shows or movies direct to consumers. Comcast Corp. has an online store to download purchased or rented movies to PCs, and now Verizon Communications Inc., through its FiOS TV service, has launched Flex View.

Verizon Communications Inc., which is rolling out FiOS TV and Internet services in Philadelphia, is poised to double its early-termination fee for new TV and Internet subscribers to $360, according to corporate documents. Verizon has seen Comcast Corp. and other cable companies stealing back FiOS TV and Internet customers with steep discounts and offers to rebate the termination fee. Customers who cancel TV or Internet service in mid-contract pay the fee. The sharply higher fee - the current one is $179 for a two-year contract - would make the rebate payments more painful for competing cable companies.

Verizon Communications Inc. has launched FiOS TV and Internet in three neighborhoods in the city - Chestnut Hill, South Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, near Girard College. Elizabeth "Jane" Kilduff, in Chestnut Hill, is one of the company's first new customers. She signed up for Verizon's "triple play" at a promotional price of $79 a month for six months and $109 for the next 18 months. She estimates she will save $4,000 in the two years when compared with her previous service with Comcast for cable TV and Verizon for phone and Internet service.

Verizon Communications Inc. has told Comcast Corp. that its Verizon-bashing "Don't Fall for FiOS" advertisements are false and asked the cable giant to fix them in a "cease and desist" letter. Among other advertising claims, Comcast says that a comparable triple-play bundle of TV, phone and Internet service from Verizon can cost $400 more a year, after promotions expire, than one from Comcast. Verizon would challenge the advertisements' truthfulness through the National Advertising Division of the Councils of Better Business Bureaus if Comcast failed to change them, Verizon vice president Eric Rabe said yesterday.