said by sporkme :

I guess this means that VZ won't be the one buying up Qwest.

said by LiamJunket :

That is a pretty safe bet.

said by patcat88 :

ATT will buy Qwest, it looks like the rest of ATT's territory anyways by square mile.

said by rit56 :

60% ? well it's still Verizon.

said by hottboiinnc :

This is not true according to Fairpoint's Website.

"Verizon's local exchange and related business assets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will be transferred to entities owned by a newly organized, wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon." which is from the "merger" page of Fairpoint. VZ will STill OWN the company. Just not the debit.

Verizon's local exchange and related business assets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will be transferred to entities owned by a newly organized, wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon. This new subsidiary will incur $1.7 billion of newly issued debt and will then be spun off to Verizon's stockholders and immediately merged with and into FairPoint.

When the merger is completed, the companies conducting the Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont telephone and related business operations will be subsidiaries of FairPoint. The combined business will be managed by FairPoint's executive team.

said by rit56 :

60% ? well it's still Verizon.

said by rit56 :

60% ? well it's still Verizon.

said by LiamJunket :

Actually it won't be. Verizon's shareholders will get 60% of FairPoint stock - not Verizon. Fairpoint will be an independent company not under Verizon control.

Of course, the same rich people that own most of Verizon will own most of FairPoint, but that is not the same thing as Verizon owning it.

said by ninjatutle :

Life is one big game.

said by hawk82 :

Verizon the telco doesn't seem to be on the ball.

said by Techman21 :

lol. You people who make the distinction between VZ and the shareholders are goofy.

The shareholders are the ones that Verizon listens to. You make it seem like "the people" are the ones getting the stock. You seem to forget in huge companies like this there are a very few number of rich people who actually control the major shares of the companies. Sure Joe blow might have stock in VZ, but I bet you Mr. Moneybags holds more than Joe Blow and owns the controlling share. Normally that leads right back to the CEO, or whomever. Which is again a moot point. So yes, Verizon is most likely going to "own" this other company. It basically gets around all those pesky merger laws. The same people at the top are still controlling the company.

Verizon is beholden to their shareholders. The shareholders control the major stock in Fairpoint. So the same group control both companies. Sure the numbers might be different but how many of those regular Joes are attending the stockholder meetings? That is what I thought. The big office where maybe 10-15 guys with the controlling parts of the companies are the ones with all the say and voting power.

said by Maggs :

The reason they do this is to pull this off their balance sheets, they get rid of unprofitable lines, getting the liability off the balance sheet, while retaining a stake of control in the region, so they can get cheap access fees to the region.

said by tschmidt :

Here is a link to the Fairpoint site about this:
»www.fairpoint.com/merger_press_release.html

Interesting they refer to it as a merger rather then a sale. Not sure if I'm reading too much into it.

said by LonghornXP :

The latest word that I have with the state of New Hampshire is that Fairpoint is willing to commit via a contract to wire New Hampshire up with fiber within a deadline and keep all current employees hired along with keeping the current union contracts.

said by BPLSUCKS :

What about all the little sattilites in michigan still owned by verizon/ex-gte? What is going to happen to us? Do we get upgrades or sold? We are sick of having no dsl.

said by roamer1 :

Qwest has largely exited rural areas in favor of populated areas...

said by roamer1 :

What Qwest areas have been largely exited?

I think I'd agree that they are the most active BOC to sell of a few junky exchanges at a time, but they are mostly as they were at divestiture in term of coverage.

said by BPLSUCKS :

What about all the little sattilites in michigan still owned by verizon/ex-gte? What is going to happen to us? Do we get upgrades or sold? We are sick of having no dsl.

said by PDXPLT :



They want to become the next Comcast, plus a big mobile phone company. They don't care about POTS, or internet access.

said by batterup :

As far as Verizon is concerned, FIOS === TV. All other applications are minor, inconsequential blips.

Look, people pay up to $100 (or more) for TV to Comcast, if you include premium channels, PPV, VOD, etc. Compared to that, who cares about the piddling little amount the average Joe is willing to pay for internet acess? Talk to any Verizon exec; that what they'll tell you.

said by PDXPLT :

Really? So when I hear all of the talk about muni-broadband and broadband for the great unwashed stimulating technological groth it is all B.S.?

said by Skippy25 :

but they "sell" to a company that they now have controlling ownership in(60%)? Exactly how is that selling off?

Looks more to me like it is purchasing a company that they will use as a subsidary to deal with those markets.

said by clickwir :

So they sold the territory on the condition that they own more than the majority of the company they just sold it to?

Sounds like tax evasion more than selling of anything.

Whoever still thinks phone service is a PUC is living a dream.

Oh FCC, if you only did half your job.