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Remember Fairpoint's Verizon Deal Job Promises?
Neither Does Fairpoint.

To get their $2.7 billion acquisition of Verizon's New England networks approved by regulators, in 2007 Fairpoint promised they'd create 675 jobs, though soon after the deal closed, the scope of the acquisition (and the huge debt Fairpoint signed off on) resulted in bankruptcy and service disruption. Though Fairpoint has since climbed out of bankruptcy, they've been shedding employees like winter clothes.

On the heels of a 400 person layoff in 2011, the company has now announced they'll be laying off another 90 jobs across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont:

quote:
These reductions are in addition to cuts last month of 30 management positions across the company. "We are adjusting our work force to remain competitive in our market and to further position FairPoint for success,” said Greg Castle, executive vice president of human resources.
In the end, Fairpoint signed off on the deal knowing full well they were probably taking on something they couldn't handle, and regulators similarly approved the deal ignoring the clear signs of problems. As we've noted for years it was Verizon who made out like a bandit. The telco shed DSL users, debt, union workers and regulator headaches they didn't want, and is now marketing their LTE service to those very same customers.

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SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

SunnyD

Member

Regulators need to go after VZ for this

This was predatory. Fairpoint should be punished somewhat, but they've already essentially punished themselves with dealing with bankruptcy and other issues.

Verizon on the other hand... they should be taken behind the shed for crap like this.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

For what? Legal business dealings? Want to punish someone, go after the regulators that allowed the deal.

tim_k
Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey
Premium Member
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA

1 recommendation

tim_k

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

said by openbox9:

For what? Legal business dealings? Want to punish someone, go after the regulators that allowed the deal.

I wonder if any of those regulators have found employment with a big telco company yet.

Oh_No
Trogglus normalus
join:2011-05-21
Chicago, IL

Oh_No to openbox9

Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

For what? Legal business dealings? Want to punish someone, go after the regulators that allowed the deal.

It depends.
If the regulators are not corrupt then verizon and fairpoint must of gave them lies and phony financial information.

If verizon and fairpoint told the truth and the regulators approved it then the regulators should be punished.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

said by Oh_No:

If the regulators are not corrupt then verizon and fairpoint must of gave them lies and phony financial information.

If verizon and fairpoint told the truth and the regulators approved it then the regulators should be punished.

What do you think VZ had to hide? It detailed the transaction and how much debt was being transferred along with the cost for the plant, number of customers, lines, etc. Didn't everyone know this deal was bad except for apparently Fairpoint and the regulators?

tim_k
Buttons, Bows, Beamer, Shadow, Kasey
Premium Member
join:2002-02-02
Stewartstown, PA

tim_k

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

said by openbox9:

said by Oh_No:

If the regulators are not corrupt then verizon and fairpoint must of gave them lies and phony financial information.

If verizon and fairpoint told the truth and the regulators approved it then the regulators should be punished.

What do you think VZ had to hide? It detailed the transaction and how much debt was being transferred along with the cost for the plant, number of customers, lines, etc. Didn't everyone know this deal was bad except for apparently Fairpoint and the regulators?

For one thing, I bet Fairpoint had no idea of how patched up the network was. Lots of cannibalization going on before the sale. You probably already know how bad the copper plant was.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

said by tim_k:

For one thing, I bet Fairpoint had no idea of how patched up the network was.

BS. Full disclosure occurred during the negotiations. If Fairpoint was deceived, bad on it (if it was their negligence), but more importantly, that's an easy lawsuit (if Verizon hid material information).

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958 to openbox9

Premium Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

For what? Legal business dealings? Want to punish someone, go after the regulators that allowed the deal.

Yes,
Go after the regulators, please!!

ALL of them too. Not just the one's involved in that fiasco!!

Freaking morons!!

whiteshp
join:2002-03-05
Xenia, OH

whiteshp to SunnyD

Member

to SunnyD
Fairpoint would of only taken that HUGE debt for the customer trade off because they had to know they were going to file bankruptcy. They didn't have the income to support the debt they were going to take yet no regulator/news noticed. Verizon can't dump it's debt so it gives it to a smaller company with a "cookie" to sweeten the deal that it (I suspect) knows will bankrupt soon. Fairpoint clears Verizons debt (along with their own) for the assets. Both companies come out ahead and only investors/broken retirement funds are stuck at the table to pay for the whole party.
tanzam75
join:2012-07-19

tanzam75 to SunnyD

Member

to SunnyD
said by SunnyD:

This was predatory. Fairpoint should be punished somewhat, but they've already essentially punished themselves with dealing with bankruptcy and other issues.

The whole point of a bankruptcy is to relieve a company of its past commitments. This is done, legally-speaking, by destroying the old company, transferring its assets to a new company, and transferring a portion of its liabilities to the new company. The rest are wiped out and cancelled.

In other words, Fairpoint has made no promises about jobs. That was a different company that no longer exists.
CXM_Splicer
Looking at the bigger picture
Premium Member
join:2011-08-11
NYC

CXM_Splicer

Premium Member

Re: Regulators need to go after VZ for this

said by tanzam75:

In other words, Fairpoint has made no promises about jobs. That was a different company that no longer exists.

Haha That's just what I told my boss when he complained about my productivity. 'You told the old CXM Splicer to improve, but as soon as I changed, I became someone else... you never said anything to ME about improving!!

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH

buzz_4_20

Member

So...

By my math that puts us 1165 in the hole for jobs.

Good Work Corporations, laying people off, that'll keep people off welfare, and enable them to pay taxes.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

Re: So...

Better than bankruptcy and everyone out of a job. Real issue is the idiotic regulators who allowed this deal to happen in the first place.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: So...

said by CylonRed:

Better than bankruptcy and everyone out of a job. Real issue is the idiotic regulators who allowed this deal to happen in the first place.

And that the regulators made demands for the deal to go forward that they knew could not be met.

cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties

Premium Member

Re: So...

Regulators that probably had VZ at best interest, not the communications customers.

The techs and garages are the ones that are going to be hit. Sad.
Hope you folks find work.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to CylonRed

Member

to CylonRed
Bankruptcy for large corporations rarely end with them closing their doors and everyone losing their job.

CylonRed
MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County

CylonRed

MVM

Re: So...

Depends very much on the bankruptcy - at a minimum many jobs are lost. Of course worse than bankruptcy is complete failure of the company before or after bankruptcy.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Because their customers fled

When FairPoint came to town, my grandma (who just turned 81 in March) switched her phone service to Time Warner.

Many of her neighbors did so as well. And the Time Warner techs say they've had a lot of digital phone installs when FairPoint came to town.

If they would have better customer service and send straight bills, then they could compete with Time Warner instead of having their customers flee to Time Warner.

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
·Republic Wireless
·Hollis Hosting

tschmidt

MVM

Re: Because their customers fled

Until recently we had both POTS and ADSL from FairPoint. Both were stable but recently switched POTS and DSL to a CLEC. Ended up with twice the DSL speed and more phone features for less cost.

During all the snow, ice storms and power outages we have never lost POTS.

It is not just Cable competition they have to deal with. Not to mention to no one's surprise Verizon is touting LTE as a replacement for DSL and Sat in the ares they sold off.

I hope they make it, As bad as the situation is I think it will be worse if they go under.

/Tom
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

key word: bankruptcy

Fairpoint has a get out of jail free card on certain obligations due to bankruptcy... however the OTHER big telecoms we know of did NOT file bankruptcy and have done far worse in breaking promises. Ahem, AT&T, GM, etc.

You don't have to go far to find companies who screwed employees after filing bankruptcy WITH taxpayer money to boot. General (SAM) Motors for one.. now make about $10 bucks an hour (where it once was nearly $40) building $40k vehicles with far fewer benefits than they once had-- zeroed out pensions & stock benefits too!

Well, is there really JAIL for corporate America anymore? I've yet to see one ounce of enforcement in more than a decade worth a damn, anywhere...