Verizon Communications is coming under fire by state politicians for its selective roll-out of new, high-speed broadband technology in the greater New York metropolitan area. In fact, State Senator Nicholas Spano accused Verizon Communications of engaging in "technological racism" by avoiding low-income areas when deploying the new broadband capability. Thus far, Verizon has only rolled out FTTP (Fiber to the Premises) in relatively affluent areas, such as northeast Yonkers and similar areas in Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties. Is this just good business practice (selling a higher-priced, premium product to higher-income communities) - or is it symptomatic of a growing digital divide between the haves and the have-nots? Does Verizon have a moral and social obligation to bring broadband Internet access to households that may not be able to pay for it?

Verizon, as can be imagined, is trying to downplay the issue as quickly as possible: "Frankly, Verizon's outraged and offended about this. Senator Spano doesn't know what he's talking about," In Verizon's defense, the company said that it was trying to deploy FTTP technology in lower-income areas of Yonkers, but that the city issued a stop-work order.