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New Hampshire Approves Fairpoint Deal
Deal expected to close by March
New Hampshire regulators have given their approval for the sale of Verizon's New England DSL and landline networks to Fairpoint Communications. The $2.7 billion deal is a financial boon for Verizon, eliminating $1.7 billion in Verizon debt and giving them a $600 million tax write off. New Hampshire was the last state to approve the deal, with Maine, Vermont and the Federal Communications Commission already giving the nod. Fairpoint, who previously managed just 300,000 phone & DSL lines, will now add 1.7 million more to that total.
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daslog
join:2002-04-10
Milford, NH

daslog

Member

As I've said from the start

This was always a done deal. (you can even look up my posts)

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: As I've said from the start

Who could have possibly predicted American regulators would approve a massive deal involving Verizon, one of the most powerful lobbying companies in the nation?

Quahog
join:2002-10-26
South Paris, ME

2 edits

Quahog to daslog

Member

to daslog
You mean there might be corruption and large monetary pay (offs) outs? Never, I am shocked and appalled that this could happen in America.

"There's nothing quite like sarcasm is there?"

tenpin784
I Went To The Dark Side?
join:2001-03-30
Brierfield, AL

tenpin784

Member

telephone service

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse then it was, which I didn't think was possible.

Sweet.

Mactron
el Camino Real
Premium Member
join:2001-12-16
PRK

Mactron

Premium Member

Re: telephone service

said by tenpin784:

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse then it was, which I didn't think was possible.

Sweet.
Yup, look how well Hawaiian Telcom (The Carlyle Group) did after VZ dumped Hawaii in 2005. Your future has has come before.
xsiddalx
join:2005-03-11
Chicago, IL

xsiddalx

Member

Re: telephone service

said by Mactron See ProfileYup, look how well Hawaiian Telcom (The Carlyle Group) did after VZ dumped Hawaii in 2005. Your future has has come before.
[/BQUOTE :


Do you have a cite? How did they do (or not)?

I believe I have read not long ago that the HI Telecom deal didn't produce the margins that Carlyle wanted. I haven't read anything that says that they couldn't provide telephone service at the same level as verizon had previously.

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

FFH5 to tenpin784

Premium Member

to tenpin784
said by tenpin784:

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse then it was, which I didn't think was possible.

Sweet.
At least you have a company that WANTS TO do business in the area. Verizon wanted out. Service under Fairpoint should improve over what Verizon offered. The main opponents of this deal from the beginning were the overpaid union workers. Some of them may lose their jobs and costs should come down as a result.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc

Re: telephone service

Costs may come down, but you know prices won't.
slls
join:2007-01-28
Bangor, ME

slls

Member

Re: telephone service

When I can't afford Fairpoint then I will switch, I have other options.
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

viperlmw to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

~snip~ The main opponents of this deal from the beginning were the overpaid union workers. Some of them may lose their jobs and costs should come down as a result.
How the hell do you define overpaid? Do you know what the pay scale for techs there is? If so, please post it so we can be enlightened as to what you think overpaid is. Until then, please stop the passive-aggressive (or any other kind of) Union attacks!
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

PDXPLT

Member

Re: telephone service

said by viperlmw:

said by FFH5:

~snip~ The main opponents of this deal from the beginning were the overpaid union workers. Some of them may lose their jobs and costs should come down as a result.
How the hell do you define overpaid? Do you know what the pay scale for techs there is? If so, please post it so we can be enlightened as to what you think overpaid is. Until then, please stop the passive-aggressive (or any other kind of) Union attacks!
Well, since the unions have monopoly power over the supply of labor to Verizon, many would consider them by definition "overpaid", i.e., Verizon is required to pay more in order to purchase labor, than they otherwise would have to, for what the market value of that labor would be in a free competitive market.

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

tschmidt

MVM

Re: telephone service

said by PDXPLT:

Well, since the unions have monopoly power over the supply of labor to Verizon, many would consider them by definition "overpaid", i.e., Verizon is required to pay more in order to purchase labor, than they otherwise would have to, for what the market value of that labor would be in a free competitive market.
Why is it when Labor join together to increase power that is considered greedy.

When management positions a company to market dominance to maximize profitability that is considered great business acumen.

In a free market shouldn't all players continuously maneuver to increase competitive advantage?

/tom
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

PDXPLT

Member

Re: telephone service

said by tschmidt:

Why is it when Labor join together to increase power that is considered greedy.
'never used the word "greedy". Of course, in a free market, all players are acting to maximize their utility; i.e., being "greedy". 'nothing wrong with that IMHO.
When management positions a company to market dominance to maximize profitability that is considered great business acumen.
Yes, but when that dominance gets to the point where the company is deemed to have monopoly power, antitrust law severely restricts the things they can do. Not only are union members exempt from antitrust, but the law even sanctions their monopoly.
In a free market shouldn't all players continuously maneuver to increase competitive advantage?
Of course. But the market isn't "free" in this case. Employees should be free to organize, and present a "package deal" to the employer to provide their labor services. But if the market was free, the employer would have the option of saying "no thanks", and be free to purchase labor services elsewhere. Under the law, they don't have that option.
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

1 recommendation

viperlmw to PDXPLT

Premium Member

to PDXPLT
said by PDXPLT:

Well, since the unions have monopoly power over the supply of labor to Verizon, many would consider them by definition "overpaid", i.e., Verizon is required to pay more in order to purchase labor, than they otherwise would have to, for what the market value of that labor would be in a free competitive market.
If it's a monopoly, than it's one sanctioned by the Company, because a Collective Bargaining Agreement is an AGREEMENT, reached by BOTH sides. Believe me, management wouldn't agree to it if it didn't benefit them (stable, trained, qualified workforce invested in the Company, highly structured working conditions, highly structured pay scales and disciplinary processes, assured thru the life of the contract, etc.). So if the Company doesn't consider their labor force to be overpaid (by definition, as they reached an AGREEMENT), then why would anyone else? BTW, remember your 'market value of that labor' when you recommend the NFL fire Eli Manning, or the NBA fire Shaq, etc. as they are all card carrying Union members.
PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

PDXPLT

Member

Re: telephone service

said by viperlmw:

If it's a monopoly, than it's one sanctioned by the Company, because a Collective Bargaining Agreement is an AGREEMENT, reached by BOTH sides.
It's not an agreement freely reached. The employer has a gun to its head; i.e., they have to agree to it in order to purchase labor. They can't go elsewhere for those services. The union thus has monoploy power.
Believe me, management wouldn't agree to it if it didn't benefit them (stable, trained, qualified workforce invested in the Company, highly structured working conditions, highly structured pay scales and disciplinary processes, assured thru the life of the contract, etc.).
Next you're going to try to sell us a bridge in Brooklyn. Very, very few companies would prefer to continue to deal with a union, if they had the option not to. Any CEO that said so would be fired by the Board.
BTW, remember your 'market value of that labor' when you recommend the NFL fire Eli Manning, or the NBA fire Shaq, etc. as they are all card carrying Union members.
At least the unions in the entertainment industries (sports, TV, movies, etc.) permit performance-based compensation, rather than protecting mediocrity by insisting on seniority-based compensation (i.e., get a raise just for showing up).
viperlmw
Premium Member
join:2005-01-25

viperlmw

Premium Member

Re: telephone service

said by PDXPLT:

said by viperlmw:

If it's a monopoly, than it's one sanctioned by the Company, because a Collective Bargaining Agreement is an AGREEMENT, reached by BOTH sides.
It's not an agreement freely reached. The employer has a gun to its head; i.e., they have to agree to it in order to purchase labor. They can't go elsewhere for those services. The union thus has monoploy power.
Believe me, management wouldn't agree to it if it didn't benefit them (stable, trained, qualified workforce invested in the Company, highly structured working conditions, highly structured pay scales and disciplinary processes, assured thru the life of the contract, etc.).
Next you're going to try to sell us a bridge in Brooklyn. Very, very few companies would prefer to continue to deal with a union, if they had the option not to. Any CEO that said so would be fired by the Board.
BTW, remember your 'market value of that labor' when you recommend the NFL fire Eli Manning, or the NBA fire Shaq, etc. as they are all card carrying Union members.
At least the unions in the entertainment industries (sports, TV, movies, etc.) permit performance-based compensation, rather than protecting mediocrity by insisting on seniority-based compensation (i.e., get a raise just for showing up).
There is no gun to management's head. They have the option of firing everyone and bringing in a non-union workforce. They can even do it during a strike, and have the option to 'lock out' the Union workforce. As for the Brooklyn Bridge, I'm not selling anything, I'm just re-iterating the typical management line whenever a new contract is agreed upon. As for those raises, that's not always the case. For example, the Union I belong to agreed to NO pay raises for 3 years, because the company was having some financial difficulty. Now that company is back to profitability and paying a dividend, and management credits, in part, it's close working relationship with it's Union personnel. So, while some boards may be hostile to Unions, others are not. Plus, every contract is different. Performance based incentives and raises are showing up more and more in contracts.

workingman
@verizon.net

1 edit

workingman to viperlmw

Anon

to viperlmw
You don't even know the facts! Shame on you! The Public Advocate in the state of New Hampshire has always been opposed and still is. Every independent company hired by regulatory to analize the deal has denounced it stating that there are no stipulations both Verizon and Fairpoint could agree to that would outweigh the risk involved for the state also 122 state reps from New Hampshire sent letters to the board denouncing the deal. There is more if you'd like me to go on but I won't because you don't care about the hard working laborers in the country that have been getting the shaft by corporate America for many years now. You don't care about the jobs we are losing to other countries or the south, at least not until it's you're own.

Dolgan
Premium Member
join:2005-10-01
Madison, WI

1 recommendation

Dolgan to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
quote:
The main proponents of this deal from the beginning were the overpaid Verizon Executives. Some of them should lose their jobs and costs would come down as a result
Corrected your post for errors.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by tenpin784:

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse then it was, which I didn't think was possible.

Sweet.
.....Service under Fairpoint should improve over what Verizon offered. The main opponents of this deal from the beginning were the overpaid union workers. Some of them may lose their jobs and costs should come down as a result.
Overpaid? or competant trained professionals, who by experience have learned that what you consider overstaffed, they need to do the job promptly, and SAFELY.
considering that fairpoint inc. just bought a customer base 5-1/2 times their existing size, and the usual confusion/ineffiencies of a transition. I'd assume they will actually need more people at least temporarily to provide equal or better service.

Vox
@verizon.net

Vox to FFH5

Anon

to FFH5
Yeah, you know what you're are talking about. Consumer opposition runs about 90%. I live in NH...Google the local papers and read the consumer comments before posting such nonsense. "Service under FairPointshould improve"...we are going from fiber to DSL connection speeds. If you think that is an improvement, I got a bridge to sell you.
xsiddalx
join:2005-03-11
Chicago, IL

xsiddalx

Member

Re: telephone service

said by Vox :

Yeah, you know what you're are talking about. Consumer opposition runs about 90%. I live in NH...Google the local papers and read the consumer comments before posting such nonsense. "Service under FairPointshould improve"...we are going from fiber to DSL connection speeds. If you think that is an improvement, I got a bridge to sell you.
It's a point well taken, but if VZ was putting the property up for sale is indicative that the property wasn't in the ftth project list.

Secondly, posting links always helps support a position.

Let's say fairpoint does ftth, what does that mean to you?
The way I see it, you now have fiber instead of copper or wireless or coax to the house. It's all just a connection.

Was there a memo distributed that said VZ was doing fiber to your home but fairpoint won't?

I'm not sure I get why one company or the other is inherently better. They are both public corporations...

Future shareholder of Fairpoint (not really excited about it myself).

FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

FastiBook to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
So, a decent living wage is being overpaid? Interesting.
bogey7806
join:2004-03-19
Here

bogey7806 to tenpin784

Member

to tenpin784
Americans always get what they truly want... or at least pay for.

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

tschmidt to tenpin784

MVM

to tenpin784
said by tenpin784:

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse
I'm less concerned with voice phone service, which at least here in Milford is fine, then future investment.

DSL is a clever engineering kludge designed to extract additional value from existing copper cable plant but it is just an interim step to an all fiber network. FairPoint acts as if DSL is Broadband nirvana rather then just a stepping stone.

Having DSL rather then dialup will be great for rural areas not currently served by DSL. However DSL speed, limited by copper distance, will become increasingly marginalized in the future. An analogy is V.90 dialup modem technology. It represents clever engineering that extracts higher speed then most though possible over the PSTN. That said dialup performance is wholly unsatisfactory today for Internet access.

The big question is will FairPoint be able to raise enough Capital, in face of falling land line revenue to invest in DSL and next generation broadband?

/tom
xsiddalx
join:2005-03-11
Chicago, IL

xsiddalx

Member

Re: telephone service

said by tschmidt See Profile
DSL is a clever engineering kludge designed to extract additional value from existing copper cable plant but it is just an interim step to an all fiber network. FairPoint acts as if DSL is Broadband nirvana rather then just a stepping stone.
[/BQUOTE :


How is it really a kludge?

A rock solid T1 is still tons more than a DSL circuit (price and throughput but very different markets and uses).

It makes sense though if you believe that the telcos are no longer telephone companies but internet providers with telephone service on the side (makes sense to me).

FTTH doesn't pay for itself (IMO) on internet access alone.

DSL is a card swap, ftth is a physical build out. Big dollar difference (all initial sunk cost, but a gamble in cost depreciation and profit I imagine).
said by tschmidt See Profile
Having DSL rather then dialup will be great for rural areas not currently served by DSL. However DSL speed, limited by copper distance, will become increasingly marginalized in the future. An analogy is V.90 dialup modem technology. It represents clever engineering that extracts higher speed then most though possible over the PSTN. That said dialup performance is wholly unsatisfactory today for Internet access.
[/BQUOTE :


DSL might well be the new dial-up.

Depending on configuration, it is effectively a dial-up service (at higher speeds).

Although I agree with you in principle, every technology that exists today is obsolete, or as you politely put it, marginalized. It's all a matter of time. Are you willing to fund the acceleration of technology without expectation of a profit?

I hate to admit, the way I use the internet, I discovered dial up was quite fine for the games I play and the web sites I visit with my current browser configuration. I am fully aware that doesn't reduce the BW delivered to my ISP, but then again, they have agreements in place...dial up has a place, but it is likely cheaper for telephone companies to provide DSL than tie up circuit switches.
said by tschmidt See Profile
The big question is will FairPoint be able to raise enough Capital, in face of falling land line revenue to invest in DSL and next generation broadband?

/tom
[/BQUOTE :


A good question for Wall Street!

Then again, to turn the tables, the big question is will Verizon be able to raise more Capital, in face of falling land line revenue to invest in DSL and next generation broadband after they sell off properties?

Using your metrics of capital, where is the Capital best invested for a return? Maybe NH isn't the best place (though you can certainly start a company to prove wall street wrong).

Welcome to deregulation 2.0

How much electric choice do you have since deregulation?

How much natural gas choice do you have since deregulation?

How much cable choice do you expect since deregulation?

How much telco choice do you expect since deregulation?

Hell, let me throw in the roads that we are selling off under lease to private investors such as fairpoint. It's America, love or leave it, right?

Given that the Cable and Telcos (and cellular affiliates) are ISPs now, what are you expecting?

There are certainly small pockets of competition out there though!
xsiddalx

xsiddalx to tenpin784

Member

to tenpin784
said by tenpin784:

Telephone service as we know it will now get worse then it was, which I didn't think was possible.

Sweet.
Service will likely remain the same, why would you believe it would get worse?

Customer service *might* go down, who knows.

Telco service is predominantly a function of capital investments, secondly maintenance (not so much). No different really than cable, satellite, cellular, isp, electric, natural gas, etc..

My hunch is that fairpoint is investing in a "bond" (telco customer) with a regular payment (monthly service). They aren't going to make service worse, but might make it better (if the return on the incremental investment makes sense).

They'll likely follow the same rules as verizon in terms of investment.

Back to my original question, how do you think it can get worse?
Nuts65
join:2006-04-27
Forest, OH

Nuts65

Member

Who's next

I wonder which state(s) are next on the sell list. I'm sure Ohio is on the short list. Just need to find another sucker.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Who's next

They've been wanting to get rid of upstate NY for a while...
Nuts65
join:2006-04-27
Forest, OH

Nuts65

Member

Re: Who's next

Maybe we should start a pool on who is next.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to Nuts65

Member

to Nuts65
didnt they release a list at one time about states they wanted to get rid of? Ohio, Michigan and Indiana was on it. With like Karl said Upstate NY

LD 50
join:2000-08-28
Milford, NH

1 recommendation

LD 50

Member

easy.

Any place they cannot cheaply lay fiber. Narrows it down a bit.

••••

fioswnatobe
@fidelity.com

fioswnatobe

Anon

[NEWS] New Hampshire Approves Fairpoint Deal

I will have to see how there pricing is for DSL and phone.. They are not supposed to increase prices for 2 years i think? If it goes up, I may switch everything to comcast.
xsiddalx
join:2005-03-11
Chicago, IL

xsiddalx

Member

Re: [NEWS] New Hampshire Approves Fairpoint Deal

said by fioswnatobe :

I will have to see how there pricing is for DSL and phone.. They are not supposed to increase prices for 2 years i think? If it goes up, I may switch everything to comcast.
Good idea!

You are a poster child for why the ISP industry is now the giant cable and telephone companies.

No offense intended, but it is what it is.
EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

EPS4

Member

Fairpoint FiOS?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't FiOS been deployed in parts of NH? Are these going to be sold to FairPoint as well, or will they be retained by Verizon?

I believe this may be the first real split of a Bell Operating Company (the former New England Telephone)- will FairPoint now be considered a "Baby Bell" (Hey, Qwest is...)

••••
ski93
join:2005-02-14
Northwood, NH

ski93

Member

Verizon/Fairpoint

It is sooooo...sad....Verizon union workers crying that they don't want this deal....they didn't want the Fios deal..it was sharholders barking for the new services not the workers...it all boils down to OVER PAID & UNDERWORKED techs who want business as usual...stop at the NID/NIU do nothing for it's customers...over charge for old school DSL and analog phone services via twisted pair cooper and hope for the best...At this point bring on Fairpoint...they CAN'T DO ANY WORSE than those clowns over at Verizon...Fairpoint needs to complete a FIOS type rebuild and compete with CATV and other providers...Verizon can drop dead in my book...they have set the bar soooooo loooowwww that Billy Bob and his cousin could step in and do a far better job..But thats my two cents..

••••

Quahog
join:2002-10-26
South Paris, ME

1 edit

Quahog

Member

Re: Fairpoint deal

Being a former employee of Fairpoint I see nothing but bad news over this buy out.

In the area I worked in we had an old outside copper plant that was in desperate need of replacements and upgrades but despite repeated attempts the budget just did not allow for such items.

In this areas residential pots service was horrible but customers had no choice if they wanted phone service.

So if Fairpoint could not afford to maintain the existing outside plant in a smaller area how are they going to with a larger area.

As has already been mentioned their idea of broadband is a joke. At the time I worked for them their fastest speed was just about at T1 level but the price was unbelievable. 90 a month. Highway robbery if you ask me. but in these area they are the only provider.

They have no plans for FTTH but they are experimenting with a video over DSL service. I do not know if they plan on rolling this service out nationwide.
ski93
join:2005-02-14
Northwood, NH

ski93

Member

Re: Fairpoint deal

You have to admit that here in Southern NH Maine VT that the existing FIOS footprint along with the remainder or towns that were designed and planned for FIOS could be completed would bode well for Fairpoint...the old cooper plant that verizon as basically abandoned is in need of help in the rual towns but some of the more populated markets are ready complete..they just need to get franchise agreements to launch land based video via fios

Mash Hawkeye
@keene.edu

Mash Hawkeye

Anon

/me = irritated customer

Well, w00t. When I bought my house in '04 I tripple checked the existing owners phone number for xDSL service on the verizon site and it jived. "Verizon DSL is already installed at this location." Whoopie I thought. We moved in and then were told at least 20 different lies by verizon as to why we could not have dsl... 10 differing copper distances, dlams all full, too many circuits on the loop, digital loop-back carrier, blah blah blah, all bs. What I didn't tell them is that I used to instal bana circuits for my dsl customers through MonadNet (which does not exist anymore, but read the "rich digital choir comments here on dslreports ) I tried every trick in the book to no avail. So when I heard about this possible deal I emailed Fairpoint and explained to them all the problems that I had with verizon and I quote: "I have received hundreds of emails over the past few months from people that want to know when FairPoint will be taking over the land line business and when they can expect high speed internet service to be available to them. However your e-mail really caught my attention. It must have been very frustrating for you. At any rate let me give you what I have and I hope it gives you something to look forward to. As you may know we are still waiting for the New Hampshire and Vermont PUC to give us the authorization to acquire the Verizon business. We have Maine on board and the FCC has approved in that state as well. We believe we’ll get the OK by the end of this month. What’s been going on leading up to the acquisition is we’ve been building a data base of customer through out northern New England that want DSL, and I’ll be entering your information into that data base today. I find Verizons treatment of you appalling. I know we’ve had situations similar to yours, that is the distance from the DSLAM, issue but were willing to try to deliver the service. I have been told that FairPoint is testing some new equipment in their mid west properties that can push the signal beyond the 18,000 foot distance and we’re waiting to see the results of that. We are also planning to build out a number of the facilities in the south west corner of New Hampshire that will improve the delivery of DSL service, but we’re still in the holding pattern. I do want to let you know what FairPoint has committed to and that is to be able to deliver to 75% of the existing customer lines broad band within eighteen months of the acquisition, and move that up to 85% in twenty four months. I do hope this helps but if need be please feel free to contact me at the information listed on this email.
Sincerely,
Al Guimont"

so what was the point of this post? who know, I don't. If Fairpoint actually does contact me and is willing to at least attempt to remove the DLC then maybe my 4 year battle for broadband might finally end.... and maybe Duke Nukem Forever will be released.... and maybe man will walk on Mars... and maybe [fill in the blank]