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Verizon CEO scoffs at technology hopes

Ivan Seidenberg derides wireless Internet projects and expectations of clear cell phone reception indoors.

By LOUIS HAU
Published April 19, 2005

Can you hear me now?

Well, don't expect to if I'm indoors.

That was the apparent message conveyed by Verizon Communications Inc. chairman and chief executive Ivan Seidenberg in remarks published over the weekend that have left tongues wagging in technology circles.

In an interview published Saturday in the San Francisco Chronicle , Seidenberg seemed to suggest the company's wireless customers were becoming too demanding.

"Why in the world would you think your (cell) phone would work in your house?" he asked. "The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator, they want it to work in the basement."

Couldn't the company correct customer expectations by distributing statistics on how often Verizon's service works indoors or by providing more detailed coverage maps that show all possible dead zones?

Seidenberg said it wasn't Verizon's responsibility, the Chronicle reported.

Verizon owns and operates Verizon Wireless through a joint venture with Britain's Vodafone Group PLC. Verizon Wireless was the most highly rated wireless carrier in an annual subscriber survey published in February by Consumer Reports magazine.

The Verizon chairman also derided San Francisco's interest in building a municipal wireless Internet, or Wi-Fi, network.

"That could be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard," he told the Chronicle. "It sounds like a good thing, but the trouble is someone will have to design it, someone will have to upgrade it, someone will have to maintain it and someone will have to run it."

Such comments carry some resonance in Florida, where the Legislature has been considering bills backed by phone companies that would complicate efforts by municipalities to offer Wi-Fi and other telecommunications services. (Wi-Fi networks planned or in operation in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Dunedin wouldn't be affected because those efforts are led by private companies, not local governments.)

Verizon spokesman Bob Elek acknowledged the company agrees with the spirit of the legislation but insisted Verizon wasn't lobbying in support of it.

As for Seidenberg's comments in the Chronicle, Elek argued that the newspaper "sort of sensationalized" his remarks.

Meanwhile, Seidenberg's words drew a swift reaction from numerous technology blogs.

"Verizon CEO flames Wi-Fi and demanding customers" declared www.makesyougohmm.com

"Shut Up And Pay, Peasant," blared a headline at www.corante.com

A blogger at www.mfli.net/blog laid out a more specific grievance: "If cellphone coverage can extend to subways in Europe, I should get at least 4 bars in a residential neighbourhood."

--Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 19, 2005, 01:19:14]