sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
 ·Optimum Online
| And you thought it was just the congresscritters...
...who steal your money.
Who do you think will make up for the $600M shortfall in taxes?
I have a business, maybe I can sell some "unprofitable" gear to a friend and get a big writeoff.  |
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swintec
Premium
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
 ·RapidVPS
·surpasshosting
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
|  Everything Stays The Same??
"A Fairpoint executive speaks to a local New Hampshire news outlet and insists that if the deal is approved, everything (price/contract/bill) stays the same for existing Verizon customers, with the exception of bill letterhead and increased rural deployment."
Everything stays the same huh, for how long? 2 Days before they realize they NEED to raise prices? How will things stay the same all while being able to increase rural development? Verizon didnt / couldnt(?) do it.
TW since acquiring Adelphia and more importantly almost the entire states cable services, is rapidly, and I mean rapidly deploying there over priced digital phone service. For years, much of the state had to listen and watch radio and TV ads about the unlimited phone service TW offered in the southern part of the state, now that they have most of the state as far as service goes, customers are very eager to jump on the digital phone bandwagon. Between independant VoIP carriers like I have and TW's digital phone taking on customers by the armfull, will Fairpoint have any customers left, besides the rural ones?
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Alarm Clocks Kill Dreams |
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russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA
| White elephant sale
Hmm. Looks to me like
Step 1: Verizon dumps crappy infrastructure on Fairpoint for real cash.
Step 2: Fairpoint sinks under weight of white elephant, goes into receivership.
Step 3: Verizon picks up former assets for pennies on the dollar.
All very simple... except for the question of why Fairpoint would agree to it. |
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TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ | Why does the word "Enron"...
Keep playing in my mind, as I read this? |
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John Galt
Forward, March
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
 ·CenturyLink
| Useless Without Pictures
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| Who is Fairpoint?
I can't believe that any company would knowingly and willingly take a sucker's deal like that. True, IBM allowed a little company called Microsoft to make the deal of a lifetime with them, but that's a hindsight perspective. IBM didn't know that their PC would be any more popular than their previous microcomputer attempts. In this case it looks like Fairpoint is signing a contract that has "WE'RE RIPPING YOU OFF!" in 36-point type at the top of every page of the contract. There must be more to this story.
Who is behind Fairpoint, and who are they connected with? With a name like Fairpoint, it even sounds like a sham. If they have to put in their corporate name, it's something that they're not, as a rule.
Who wants to wager when Fairpoint applies with the USDA for some very large loans?
Who wants to wager how long it will be after that before the company files Chapter 7? |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
|  A few things about this deal
1. Fairpoint gets $1.7 billion in debt. But they also get $1.7 billion dollars in assets. Assets that will generate a revenue stream.
2. Verizon gets a tax write-off. And that I don't like because it means other taxpayers pick up the slack.
3. I have Verizon stock in my mutual funds. So I get back some of those taxes in dividends and stock appreciation. I may actually come out ahead overall.
4. USF. A big waste of money. Most of the USF funds won't be used for expansion, though a small part may go to that. The USF should be eliminated.
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to Time4aNAP
Re: Who is Fairpoint?
said by Time4aNAP  :Who is behind Fairpoint, and who are they connected with? With a name like Fairpoint, it even sounds like a sham. If they have to put in their corporate name, it's something that they're not, as a rule. Fairpoint Communications, Inc. is the OFFICIAL and legal name of the corporation.
And who owns the stock?
The biggest owners are the mgt firms for mutual funds and the mgt team also owns big pieces:
»library.corporate-ir.net/library···N10K.pdf
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| LOL...Fairpoint "merged" with Verizon, so it's now Verizon. Spinco and Taconic are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Verizon, so every single bit of this is owned and operated by Verizon.
So...if Verizon is using Verizon to give Verizon a tax break and make a lot of debt magically disappear, who ends up with the liabilities?
The answer is in the mirror. |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to russotto
Re: White elephant sale
said by russotto :All very simple... except for the question of why Fairpoint would agree to it. that part is simple too. you just have to think like one of them. why take a horrible deal like this? to make money. how will they make money? the ceo/executives, etc. will make a bundle. cut service. cut back a little on everything. the debt will slowly sink them. layoffs will be needed eventually. service will suffer. eventually, all the money has been milked outta this cow. bankruptcy/sale.
to think like this is to have a true business mind: how to fuck over everyone for the sake of making some cash.
someone else mentioned enron. i think it is appropriate to describe this thinking strategy as the same. it takes an Enron type to be able to take the cash and screw over such a large number of people. |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: A few things about this deal
said by TKJunkMail :The USF should be eliminated. we agree, for once. |
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| reply to TKJunkMail
said by TKJunkMail :USF. A big waste of money. Most of the USF funds won't be used for expansion, though a small part may go to that. The USF should be eliminated. That's a popular mantra around here. But answer me this: What happens to all of our tax dollars when the USF is "eliminated"? Taxpayers such as myself are supposed to say "oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles", let the thieves get a pass, and continue to pay that tax into the general fund for nothing? Sounds like a pretty sucky deal to me! |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to Time4aNAP
Re: Who is Fairpoint?
1st - the question I answered was who in Fairpoint benefits.
2nd - Spinco will be spun off and will be merged in to Fairpoint. Not the other way around. Fairpoint will not be a subsidiary of Verizon. And the shareholders of Spinco will be anyone who currently holds Verizon stock - they will get Spinco shares. This means an extremely wide distribution of shares. Fairpoint directors will maintain control of Fairpoint.
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to Time4aNAP
Re: A few things about this deal
said by Time4aNAP : But answer me this: What happens to all of our tax dollars when the USF is "eliminated"? Taxpayers such as myself are supposed to say "oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles", let the thieves get a pass, and continue to pay that tax into the general fund for nothing? Sounds like a pretty sucky deal to me! No. When the USF goes, the fees(taxes) also go.
Good question though about what happens to the money still in the fund.
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| said by TKJunkMail :No. When the USF goes, the fees(taxes) also go. Of course they go...right into the general fund. Surely you're not so naïve that you think that they're going to stop collecting a tax! LOL...Not very likely, especially for a government that's so far in the hole that they stopped counting after the second trillion dollars.
Good question though about what happens to the money still in the fund. There's no question there. They have to use it for its intended purpose. To clear the books, they'll just "loan" it out to political cronies. When the USF ceases to exist, all loans, both good and bad, become give-aways. That's how things go in DC. Take it from someone who has worked there. |
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Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Who is Fairpoint?
said by TKJunkMail :1st - the question I answered was who in Fairpoint benefits. O...K... Why should I care? (That's rhetorical, don't answer it.) I didn't ask that question, nor did I ask about your answer. 
2nd - Spinco will be spun off and will be merged in to Fairpoint. Not the other way around. Fairpoint will not be a subsidiary of Verizon. And the shareholders of Spinco will be anyone who currently holds Verizon stock - they will get Spinco shares. This means an extremely wide distribution of shares. Fairpoint directors will maintain control of Fairpoint. We'll see, when and if it happens. Right now, Fairpoint and Verizon are one and the same. That makes this tax and debt scheme nothing but a shell game, regardless of what the final structure is. |
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scooper
join:2000-07-11
Youngsville, NC | rhetorical question...
And these big companies are wondering why people are angry at them ? |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| put that in writing bitch
quote:
Related: A Fairpoint executive speaks to a local New Hampshire news outlet and insists that if the deal is approved, everything (price/contract/bill) stays the same for existing Verizon customers, with the exception of bill letterhead and increased rural deployment.
sure.....
Lets put that as a legally binding contract. |
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macaholic
Premium
join:2003-08-31
Jackson Heights, NY
| reply to morbo
Re: White elephant sale
Maybe the costs of managing a local phone network is cheaper for a company like Fairpoint rather than a complicated infrastructure company like Verizon. Fairpoint probably figure they may be able to figure a profit with current prices to customers...
Ben
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"You don't subject minority rights to a referendum." Justice Minister Irwin Cotler of Canada |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| Weren't New England phone rates the CHEAPEST in the country?
A nice cool 600 million can be a down payment on the vodafone wireless stock Verizon wants to buy back.. and they lose the albatross that is New England copper and rust. Although its a shame for those who really wanted fiber.. It's time to move from the sleepy little towns because 100% universal coverage is a latent pipe dream.. Even the most ambitious cable companies aren't banging down New England's doors and each individual state must see who wants to tackle the problem because New England states are NOT Pennsylvania, Texas, or California.. the economics of upgrading are different..But of course we're not covering new ground by saying this.
I don't really feel too sorry for the rural areas so much because for some reason every product that comes from RURAL farmland is getting so damned expensive that we're willing to buy poisoned products from china to save a few dollars... and that is a damed shame too.. locally grown=expensive.
Well save those pennies New England.. you may have to convert those wheat fields or whatever you grow up there into Fiber Optics.. because, eventually the pendulum swings the other way.. there will probably by a rural property tax (state special fund) to start covering some of this work.. no two ways about it. |
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