Sandy restoration, fiber conversion in lower Manhattan nearly complete, says Verizon

A little more than three months after Superstorm Sandy, Verizon (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) says it has completed installation of a backbone fiber-optic network in lower Manhattan (see "Verizon completes fiber-optics installation in lower Manhattan as part of Hurricane Sandy restoration effort") and has restored voice and high-speed data services in more than 90% of affected office and commercial space. Meanwhile, the company says it is working with building management companies to increase the number of buildings connected with fiber-optic cable.

Through the course of rebuilding its network, Verizon has taken advantage of the opportunity to replace copper infrastructure damaged in the storm with fiber. The company says it has removed 150 tons of copper and installed 6500 miles of fiber. Much of the damaged copper infrastructure covered the area south of Worth Street, from the East River to the Hudson River. Verizon says it continues to negotiate with building owners to install fiber both to and inside buildings, particularly as those building owners look to repair their heat, power, and other systems.

"Block-by-block, building-by-building, we are completely transforming the infrastructure of this vibrant and key part of New York City," said Martin Burvill, senior vice president of global operations for Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "This dramatic a transformation effort in just three short months is unprecedented, and we have done an incredible amount of work in a very short amount of time to get our customers up and running as soon as possible. There is much more work to do, but when we are done our customers in lower Manhattan will have one of the most advanced communications networks in the world."

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