Vermont Prepares For Fairpoint Bankruptcy > Vermont should go after Verizon and contact the IRS

reply to cableties

Re: Vermont should go after Verizon and contact the IRS

VZ should be investigated along with Fairpoint. The regulators that approved this deal should be fired. Vermont should contact the IRS to see what, if anything, can be done about this shady deal. If for nothing else, to prevent loopholes like this from being exploited at the expense of customers and investors. Maybe Vermont's AG can explore options for going after Verizon.

The problem I have is that although the deal was technically legal, (almost) everyone knew that it was in actuality a horrible deal that primarily benefited Verizon.

Verizon and Fairpoint sold the idea to the states that a small company with limited assets could "take over" its landlines, even though there was much dissension in the ranks and elsewhere about Fairpoint being able to pull it off. There was initially resistance to this on the boards and the consumer advocates in all three states. The question is, how was this resistance overcome. Investigating this turn-around of the public service board may reveal some interesting results, who knows. At least it would help to prove or disprove any hanky-panky that may have gone on.

reply to openbox9

said by openbox9:

So VZ's liability is what? morbo insinuated that VZ is liable/guilty of something. My response was that VZ did nothing wrong and that there are others to clearly lay the responsibility/blame on to include Fairpoint's CEO and BOD as well as state/federal regulators.

reply to Noreaster
Agreed. This investigation should be of the entities that had a hand in the approval of the business transaction, not the selling participant which did everything legal. Now if evidence arises that VZ greased a few palms in the process, then unleash the investigative hounds. There's no reason to investigate VZ at this time, which is what morbo suggests should be done.

reply to cameronsfx
No it's not "done". "Legality" is a term corporations put out to shield themselves from the common man's wrath. However in the telecom industry "legal" is meaningless when the FCC spends a decade gutting the most important Act regarding national communication services ever passed.

Verizon had a responsibility to the consumers it had been serving for years, and who had been loyally subscribing to their services for years. They were as aware as anyone that their customers would be entering a minefield with Fairpoint. They need to be held accountable for their anti-societal business decisions.