As Americans continue to ditch wireline phone service in favor of wireless, and as wired voice lines are increasingly moving to fiberoptic networks or lines operated by cable companies, the telecom workers unions and some consumer advocacy groups have accused Verizon of allowing its old network to fall into disrepair. Recently, the head of a union representing thousands of Verizon employees testified that techs can get into trouble and possibly lose their jobs if they actually try to repair damaged copper lines. [More]