More broadband coming to the North Country

[KBCraig]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Verizon+to+sell+NH+local+phone+lines&articleId=dc1e1f48-90ce-4059-bd7d-0bd9f6840a23

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NNE_VERIZON_SPINOFF_REAX_NHOL-?SITE=NHMAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Short version: Verizon is selling its holdings in northern New England. FirstPoint is the buyer. Verizon had delayed spending money on upgrades, because they wanted to sell; FirstPoint wants to buy and spend lots of money on upgrades to rural areas.

Hopeful result: more high-speed access to the North Country.

Kevin

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Phone companies are one of my specialties. I'll get into this later when I get some time.

[KBCraig]

We went through something similar here. GTE didn't/wouldn't upgrade the infrastructure, because they were planning to get out of the market. Valor (now Windstream) was formed, purchased the regional telco, and soon we had DSL almost everywhere.

[error]

Bah, time to merge these threads, AGAIN, I think.

[aries]

I still don't get it - where are we lacking? What issues are there currently with high speed access here? I live here, it's here! Nobody's complaining! There is cable and DSL... what gives

[error]

Generally, the farther from town center you get, the worse DSL will be, and the less likely that any cable company has even run a cable to your home, let alone installed any necessary hardware upgrades in the neighborhood for Internet service. If you live in town, you're probably OK.

[aries]

pretty much all main roads and backroads have cable access, tv and internet. Vermont has a problem with high speed, THEY are the ones that need help - NONE of essex county has DSL or cable internet

[KBCraig]

The CWA and IBEW positions seem inexplicable.  ??? ???


http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=FairPoint+plans+IPTV+service+for+northern+New+England&articleId=0e591a1e-7d96-4c91-9fbc-0bfa1eeb9f47

FairPoint plans IPTV service for northern New England

By DENIS PAISTE
Union Leader Staff

CONCORD ? FairPoint Communications Inc. plans to offer television via Internet Protocol over DSL after acquiring Verizon's local landlines in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, its chairman and chief executive officer Gene Johnson said yesterday.

Combining IPTV with local landline phone service and broadband Internet access will make Fairpoint's offering competitive with Comcast's "Triple Play" offering, he said.

Johnson said FairPoint sells IPTV over DSL in Washington state. "We are very effectively competing against Comcast in that market," he said.

In Maine, 91 percent of Fairpoint's current customers have access to DSL and in Vermont, it's available to 93 percent of customers, he said.

That compares to about 62 percent availability in the territory served by Verizon in the three northern New England states.

"We built our business on creative thinking," he said.

In some of the Verizon territory it assumes, upgrading may be as simple as putting equipment into a rack, while other places will be more difficult, Johnson said. FairPoint also offers wireless telephone service in some states, he said.

Johnson said his meetings with state officials and New Hampshire folks Wednesday and yesterday impressed upon him the need for more broadband access, particularly in the North Country.

He said he has already asked engineering staff to look at options for the North Country.

Charlotte, N.C.-based FairPoint plans to add 600 employees in northern New England in addition to the 3,000 it will acquire from Verizon in the transaction which was announced Tuesday. FairPoint will acquire about 1.6 million access lines, 234,000 high-speed data subscribers and 600,000 long distance customers from Verizon.

Wages and benefits for Verizon's employees, both union and non-union, will remain the same, he said.

Customers bills won't go up, but they aren't likely to go down either, he said.

Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that CWA will be asking tough questions of the companies and state regulators in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont about the sale to FairPoint Communications.

"Transferring those lines and customers to FairPoint is relegating those states to the basement in terms of Internet access," he said.

CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represent about 3,000 Verizon workers in the three states, whose bargaining agreement expires next year.

Even before the $2.72 billion deal closes, FairPoint will spend from $95 million to $110 million to accomplish the transition, Johnson said. It plans to spend another $90 million within six months of closing.

Asked to explain how FairPoint's service and offerings will be different from Verizon's, Johnson said: "Our focus is these kind of markets. Their focus is not, so as a result of that, this is where all our money is going to go, these kinds of markets. So we will be very focused on trying to bring those services. If we don't do that, we don't have a business.

[error]

The CWA and IBEW positions seem inexplicable.  ??? ???

You obviously are having trouble thinking like a socialist. To the re-education camps with you!