| (Un)Fairpoint I am an ex-employee of Fairpoint's Maine operations. I have been involved with the Maine Public Advocate's Office on several issues regarding Fairpoint. I encourage anyone with an interest in the Verizon to Fairpoint sale to read the on-line posting of Randy Barber's testimony to the Vermont Public Utilities Commission. I am also an ex-customer of Fairpoint, but unfortunately a current customer of Verizon. I live in a small town and have DSL and phone service (most of the time), unless there is a high wind. Speaking of high winds, that's what any claims made by the Fairpoint Management amount to. I am a recovering Fairpoint accountant, and I can assure you the way they structure the Management Fees from the mothership to the RLEC's is not in the best interest of rural customers or the states they reside in. The Maine PUC wrote me off as a disgruntled ex-employee a few years back, but the Public Advocate's Office listened to what I had to say during a Fairpoint rate case. The PUC basically rubber-stamped the deal Fairpoint wanted, and sure enough, the picture of the future Fairpoint painted back then is nothing like the reality of today. After Fairpoint bought out the RLEC I worked for there was a honeymoon period of about two years. Then they liquidated the over-funded pension (I wonder where the over-funded part went), and started getting rid of the older (higher paid) employees through various means. Looking back I can only say thank goodness I don't work for those #@&*%'s anymore, and I worry about the folks I know who still work for UnFairpoint, although there are fewer of the original employees there each year. It's a beautiful day in Maine and I am going canoeing, so long Fairpoint, hope your Verizon deal falls through. |
