Lawmakers Join in Questioning Verizon-FairPoint Deal

Growing numbers of lawmakers in New Hampshire and Vermont are standing with CWA and IBEW members in voicing concern over the pending sale of Verizon's access lines in Northern New England to tiny FairPoint Communications.

In Vermont, one of the more powerful state senators, Republican Vince Illuzzi, chair of the Senate Economic Development Committee, joined with a delegation of union and community leaders Wednesday in delivering 2,600 postcards to the governor from citizens who oppose to the sale.

Illuzzi told reporters, "Vermont is in dire need of broadband access for every business and household – not someday, not maybe, and not when Verizon or FairPoint gets around to it."  He and others at the press event in Montpelier noted that FairPoint, which is assuming $1.7 billion of additional debt in the deal, won't have the ability to maintain let alone upgrade services.

In New Hampshire, more than 50 state legislators have now written to the public service commission urging that the sale be blocked or else conditions be imposed to restructure the deal to reduce the debt burden on FairPoint and to provide enforceable service quality and broadband buildout standards.

CWA radio and online ads have been urging the public to send e-mails to lawmakers from the campaign's website, www.stopthesalenow.com.

Meanwhile this week, the Portland Phoenix community newspaper exposed the unrealistic assumptions in FairPoint business plan as presented to the Maine PUC.  According to the article, the company's "success depends on, among other specious ideas, the price of gasoline remaining constant for the next seven years.  (Another of those specious ideas is that the unions, whose contracts expire in late 2008, will accept zero-percent raises for the next seven years.)"