Verizon deal rips off rural users, rips open digital divide

I respect your opinions, I

I respect your opinions, I really do, but lets get real. If you want the government to decide who and when its constituents are “entitled” (familiar word Vermont?) to broadband, then please ask your government to build it for you, see how much it costs them (and how long it takes), and ultimately you. Bottom line, to build an all fiber network it costs money, and lots of it. Nothing is free. Every telecommunications company out there would love to serve every customer in New England with fiber, but the reality is no one, even Verizon & AT&T (the “big bad” phone companies), has enough capital to get it done. Skepticism on Wall Street is one large factor. But the other, broader, deeper and more insidious issue is regulation. One example: In Europe, for instance, it is not only possible to bury fiber in the pavement of the roadways but it is encouraged. You see European governments have a far more progressive view of what a solid telecommunications infrastructure can do for their people. They see it as part of the solution to, say, green house gases and traffic congestion. Better telecom = more work from home = less cars on the road, (you get the picture). You commies in Vermont ought to appreciate that. (Just kidding!..., sort of.) Of course the fact that, European governments, often own the Telecom AND the Highway departments, helps (I am not suggesting we go that route, far from it! ..though it might actually work in the SRV - Socialist Republic of Vermont – Just kidding again…sort of). Do you have any idea of the obstacles a Telecom provider would face if they tried to put fiber in the roadways of this country? There are dozens of government agencies that manage our roadways and none of them want anyone messing with “their stuff”, nor do they care about improving the productivity of our economy. Mind you this is but one example of the hundreds of roadblocks facing Telecom providers. Remember, they have to run a line to every house and business in your town. Did you ever look out of an airplane window and see how many places they have to go? You would be hard pressed to simply ring every door bell without spend several million dollars and you would probably piss some government agency off for, something, somewhere ! We could talk about permitting, police details, rights of way, environmental concerns, aesthetics, restoration costs, tree trimming, taxes, traffic control, labor issues, material costs, coordination with other utilities, and on and on and on. All of these factors add tremendous cost to doing business. Unfortunately, in rural states like Vermont, NH and Maine these costs are magnified by the lack of population density. Long distances between population centers = more cost. (And by the way I DO live in New England). More unfortunate (for the citizens of these States) regulators, and other government agencies, do not have an appreciation for these costs, and time after time in hundreds of often obscure State PUC rulings that the general public is not inclined to follow, they rule against big Telecom, simply because it is easier for them to make the same inane arguments made in the replies above, “Big Telecom can afford it”, in effect forcing them to subsidize doing business in Vermont (sorry to keep picking on VT,…sort of) with revenue from other more profitable places. Folks, the reality is, broadband deployment in this great country is going to take allot of money, no matter who builds it. We, as a people, believe in free enterprise. Don’t hammer Verizon or AT&T for making good business decisions based on the economics. And don’t hammer your regulators and governments for “allowing” Big Telecom to make good business decisions. It is a matter of survival for them. Instead, hammer your government for not seeing the big picture! Hammer them for not taking steps to encourage telecom investments in your State. Governments do it for other industries all the time! I bet you know of a shopping mall that is getting tax relief to locate in your town. With incentives, or simply lack of dis-incentives, broadband telecom will become viable to New England again. The natural evolution will be to go where the sales can support the building of the network, build critical mass, then fan out to the rural areas, that is just the way it is.

Yo, ho, ho, and away we go.

Yo, ho, ho, and away we go. Where did you get your information on Verizon economics, from the Executive talking ponts brief?

Verizon and AT&T BOTH have received tax break after tax break after tax break and incentives to build out DSL, FIOS, etc., and have simply pocketed the money. This is a part of public record. Go read about it.

The problem isn't that regulators have saddled Verizon with onerous rules, the problem is that regulators haven't made Verizon live up to its written agreements.

Try truth in telecom first and go from there.

In response to the

In response to the “flatlander fascist” (just kidding,… sort of) if you indeed live in new England, you must be in an area (probably Massachusetts from the erroneously affluent odiferous offal that escapes from time to time from your cranial cavity, or just possibly you speak from your sphincter?.....just kidding…sort of) that call in a trouble to Verizon and has it fixed in 24 hours. Unlike those of us in the GREAT state of Vermont, where before the pressure was put on Verizon by the government it was 3 days minimum to get a trouble fixed.
The FIOS project is the least of our concerns. We don’t demand FIOS now, 80% of Vermonters don’t even know what it is and yes it is expected that major metropolitan areas will roll out first. Turn it on its ear, if as you say Verizon can’t afford to roll out FIOS (not necessarily so) no way will Fair Point.
I am looking at the other side. My family is a “Verizon” family. The food on the table depends on the pay I get. Scenario 1: Verizon sells NH. Vt. And Me. Land lines, Verizon keeps all the business lines (the ones responsible for 60%+ of that profit margin), to Fair Point. Fair Point assumes a massive debt, takes over the millions of dollars in pension money, (“investing” in the new company…aka junk bonds) the employees and union. Then Fair Point declares bankruptcy AGAIN, breaks the union, fires the workers, decimates the pension, and hires untrained off the street workers far below poverty line pay to replace them. Thus they break the union, reduce the work force, and give the northern states the largest jump in unemployment recipients in years while at the same time bringing customer service to a stop. Oh and Ivan Will pocket another 12 million in bonus monies every quarter. That is what the “flatlander fascist” (just kidding…sort of) is condoning. It must be great to have a job working as a spinster for Verizon.

I understand your thought

I understand your thought process but it fails in one simple regard. Verizon was given tax relief for these very reasons you discuss. They have received tremendous tax breaks in New Hampshire for the very purpose of updating and improving their infrastructure for the benefit of the communities in which they serve. And what do they do? They take the money and run. They say one thing to please the states and do another. Big business, big thieves. Verizon corporate executives will receive a huge amount of Fairpoint stock for this deal. But what are the options. Fairpoint will never have the ability to bankroll a massive DSL rollout in three states. The existing plant has been neglected for years so Verizon could afford the fiber network they are in the process of building. Fairpoint will spend most of their money trying to fix the neglected copper plant that is left behind by Verizon. At least we were seeing a true high speed network being built by Verizon. We can only hope the states force Verizon to stay and finish the job.