<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3TP6Lg_1GzFT9kl00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3TP6Lg_1GzFT9kl00" width="3840" height="447" >Verizon held court with customers opposed to the company’s proposed copper landline cuts in a Culpeper ballroom Thursday night. The company reiterated its plans to move forward, while customers continued to voice objections.“I want my landline, quote me on that!” Rixeyville resident Michelle North told the Rappahannock News.Verizon invited Virginia customers who complained to the Federal Communications Commission about its proposed cuts, some of whom were Fauquier County residents, but turnout was low given the outpouring of resistance — 10 attendees made the trip to downtown Culpeper, greeted by 20 Verizon employees, some of whom had flown into Dulles International Airport from New Jersey. The Rappahannock News attended the unstructured event at Verizon’s invitation. Verizon did not comment on how many people were invited. Representatives showed off the cellular transmitter they would like customers to switch to, a black box with antennas that hooks up to the phone’s receiver. The representatives addressed some concerns from attendees: Frequent power outages? The transmitter runs on three AA batteries. Don’t want a new receiver? Plug your old one into the transmitter. Bad cellular connection? Verizon won’t cut the copper landline.But customers repeated the argument that a cellular connection simply isn’t reliable enough to justify the landline cuts.Amissville resident Karen Hunt, an assiduous notetaker, pressed Verizon representatives on everything from its testing of cellular signal strength to seasonal foliage changes, echoing questions Rappahannock County Administrator Garrey Curry raised in an October letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the agency responsible for approving or denying Verizon’s copper cuts. Hunt said she wasn’t satisfied with all of Verizon’s answers.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0SjRsh_1GzFT9kl00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0SjRsh_1GzFT9kl00" width="1920" height="1280" ><figcaption>Amissville resident Karen Hunt looks through notes and questions she compiled as she speaks to a group of Verizon representatives. Hunt said she does not have a cellphone and relies on her copper landline. Ireland Hayes | Foothills Forum</figcaption></figure>“I got some questions answered, and I really didn’t come away from last night any more assured that this was gonna work out,” Hunt said in a phone interview Friday. She said the local representatives present at the event provided some comfort, however.Of foliage changes impacting signal strength, Matt Ogburn, a state and local government lobbyist for Verizon, said: “We don’t share that concern.”“Our technicians do these installs on a daily basis,” he added, and said the company believes technicians can adequately determine whether a customer can or cannot be switched to the cellular service.Amissville resident Deb Craggs seemed unswayed by Verizon’s arguments.“I think that they will assure you that you’ll never be without service, but they can’t guarantee it,” she told the Rappahannock News at the event.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ThIIz_1GzFT9kl00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ThIIz_1GzFT9kl00" width="1920" height="1280" ><figcaption>Rixeyville resident Michelle North speaks to two Verizon representatives. “I want my copper wire,” she said. Ireland Hayes | Foothills Forum</figcaption></figure>And North, the Rixeyville resident, recalled that cellular towers had been overwhelmed during crises like 9/11 and the 2011 Virginia earthquake — the copper landlines weren’t, though.Lauren Peterson, a Verizon spokesperson, said she doesn’t anticipate any movement on copper cuts until “well into next year,” pending FCC approval. Ogburn said Verizon would dismantle copper infrastructure on a “case-by-case” basis, noting that if one customer on a given line keeps the service, then the line can’t be removed.Diana Alvear, another spokesperson, said the company would likely recycle the copper.Curry told the Rappahannock News that Ogburn is trying to schedule a meeting with local county administrators and town managers. Curry, who said he has spoken with Ogburn “probably three times,” including this week, previously told the Rappahannock News he would welcome more direct outreach from Verizon so it “could convince people like me, who then can calm the masses.”The copper cuts were slated to go into effect in September, but the FCC put them on an indefinite hold so it could complete a review. It is unclear when the review will conclude.</div></body>

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Verizon held court with customers opposed to the company’s proposed copper landline cuts in a Culpeper ballroom Thursday night. The company reiterated its plans to move forward, while customers continued to voice objections. “I want my landline, quote me on that!” Rixeyville resident Michelle North told the Rappahannock News....

Verizon tries easing copper concerns; customers not convinced

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Verizon held court with customers opposed to the company’s proposed copper landline cuts in a Culpeper ballroom Thursday night. The company reiterated its 

Verizon tries easing copper concerns; customers not convinced

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