[OT] Verizon/FairPoint sale (was: Comcast!?!?)

[Ben Scott]

On Nov 15, 2007 6:37 PM, Bill McGonigle <bill at bfccomputing.com> wrote:
> Vitts wasn't regulated the same way telcos are.

  Why not?  Vitts was a telco, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier,
per the NH PUC [1].  They operated equipment in the COs and provided
services over the same copper plant the ILEC was maintaining.  The
only difference was a focus on packet-switched technology and that
they didn't own the outside plant.

[1] www.puc.state.nh.us/Regulatory/Orders/2000ords/23417t.pdf

>    http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/bankrupt.html

  Right.  And Vitts was made to stay open for a whole 60 days -- 29
days longer than the above would indicate is required.  Now, I think
it was the NH PUC and not the FCC that was driving that, but either
way: What happens after that period?

> Odds are the worst case is the PUC would allow them to refinance and
> charge a stranded-costs fee.  Otherwise PSNH customers would have
> been in the dark for the past 20 years.

  Right, and NH has some of the highest electric rates in the country
[2], and that wonderfully productive Seabrook facility.  If we knew
that would be the outcome of the FairPoint sale, I would say we should
stick with Verizon.

[2] http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/rankings/stateelectricityprice.htm

> For this to happen one has to imagine that either the company is
> grossly mismanaged ....

  Right.  I've never heard of a telecom company being mismanaged.  ;-)
 (WorldCom, NorthPoint, etc.)

  Apropos, an improperly redacted PDF from the Maine OCA has been posted here:

http://verizonvsfairpoint.com/index.php?topic=234.0

  The short version is, as I understand it: The Maine OCA believes
FairPoint would be over-extending itself with the purchase, and would
have severe money problems.

  I also note that same document reiterates that Verizon has also not
been taking good care of the PSTN in NNE.  I do start to wonder if
maybe the PUCs are just not doing a very good job of policing the
telcos.

> ... or telco/data services are fundamentally unprofitable.

  In rural areas, they sometimes are just that.  That's why everybody
pays the "Universal Service Fund" charge -- it redistributes the cost
of bringing POTS to rural areas.  That might include you.  :-)

-- Ben