09/26/2007
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Staff photo by Andy MolloyOne thing it did deliver Tuesday night was supporters.
Backers of the sale dominated testimony at a public hearing in Portland before the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
At least 175 people filled the Portland High School auditorium, according to police estimates. A majority of those who addressed the three commissioners spoke in favor of the $2.7 billion transfer of Verizon's phone network in northern New England to FairPoint.
The deal would transfer poles, wires and other equipment from a legacy carrier of the Bell Telephone age to an independent phone company with no experience in running a statewide telecommunications system.
If approved, it could lead to better telephone and Internet access in Maine for homes and businesses, or a deterioration of service and higher rates -- depending on your point of view.
Kurt Adams, the PUC's chair, has said he considers the sale Maine's most important telecommunications issue in a generation.
The Portland hearing was the last of three sessions before commissioners. The first two were held earlier this month, in Fort Kent and Bangor.
The sale was heavily supported by those who testified in northern Maine, where FairPoint currently operates in the St. John Valley. Supporters and opponents were more evenly split at the Bangor session.
Tuesday's hearing wraps up attempts by both sides to sway public opinion -- at least for the moment.
Earlier in the day, labor unions organized a media event at the State House in Augusta. Opponents delivered a wheelbarrow filled with post cards addressed to Gov. John Baldacci, asking him to stop the sale.
Last week, on the eve of the Bangor hearing, FairPoint sent out a news release promising to build an advanced fiber-optic network in the three states within 24 months of approval. The announcement was aimed largely at gaining business support.
FairPoint obviously made a strong effort to organize a show of support in Portland for Tuesday's hearing.
FairPoint currently has 180 employees in Maine at offices from South Portland to Fryeburg to South China. Dozens of those workers came to the hearing, some by bus. Many wore forest green T-shirts that read: "FairPoint Communications. Connecting northern New England to a brighter future." They filled several rows in the middle of the auditorium.
The workers were joined by local business people and state legislators who voiced support.
Heather Collins, executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber of Commerce, said her area is growing and needs better access to broadband Internet services to attract new workers and employers.
FairPoint can do that, she said.
Similar economic development comments were made by Chris Hall, who represents the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Stacey Morrison, chief executive of Ganneston Construction Corp. in Augusta, said her growing business relies on the Internet to communicate with customers, but many in rural areas lack good access.
She also said FairPoint can provide that.
But the PUC also heard from residents and business people who expressed doubt that FairPoint, a much smaller company than Verizon, has the resources to bring high speed service that will compete with fiber optic technology.
Christopher Weston, a photographer from Parsonsfield, said he subscribes to Time Warner Cable because speed is important for uploading his pictures. The DSL technology FairPoint uses, he said, would put Maine at a disadvantage.
William Barker, a long-time employee of Micucci Wholesale Foods in Portland, said he's on the phone all day with pizza shops and businesses around the state that depend on good phone service. Many of them fear the sale, he said.
Barker also got a laugh from the audience when he distinguished himself during his introduction: "I'm not an employee of FairPoint. I'm not an employee of Verizon. And I'm not a politician."
The details behind FairPoint's commitments on rates, speed and service will be among the issues taken up by the commission over the next two weeks as it holds technical hearings in Augusta. The sessions get under way Oct. 4.
The commission will analyze the financial soundness of the merger, effects on consumer rates and telecommunications competition. It also will consider deployment of high-speed Internet and FairPoint's abilities to meet service quality standards.
It's possible the commissioners will make a decision by year's end, although deliberations may last until January.
Regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont also must approve the sale for it to go forward.
Reader comments
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This is a goat path we're getting onto. Buildout like FP promises is a waste of time.report abuse
Governor Baldacci made the decision long ago, in agreement with Verizon, a very wealthy company with lots and lots of money that it spends on big political interests groups to buy the good will of politicians just like our governor. They want out of Maine, and even though Fairpoint has the WORST service record of any utility ever seen in Maine and has never kept any of the promises it has made before, Baldacci has been bought off and intends to see that Verizon gets what they want and is selling the people of Maine out to Fairpoint.
Baldacci first pushed out the longtime Chairman of the PUC and replaced him with his buddy Kurt Adams, and then pushed out the longtime Public Advocate and replaced him with his pal Richard Davies. These two career politicians do whatever Baldacci wants, with no care as to what is best for Maine. And that is why these hearings are meaningless. Baldacci decided two years ago that Verizon would be let out of Maine, and so Adams and Davies are going to make it happen.
End of story.report abuse
Obviously as the voting power of those consumers who have "cut the cord" increases and wireless broadband becomes more available, then federal subsidies for rural telephone service in Maine will be increasingly in jeopardy. Also the FCC believes that a national wireless broadband network is more economic for rural consumers and is proposing to give the best wireless bandwidth options in a major federal bandwidth auction to national wireless bandwidth competitors. The FCC Chairman said before Congress in July:
"I am also proposing stringent build-out requirements – the strictest build-out the Commission has ever proposed – to help ensure that the rural and underserved areas of the country will benefit from the provision of new services that this spectrum will facilitate. These build-out requirements include interim benchmarks and tough penalties. We also would permit higher power limits in rural areas, which will reduce the number of towers necessary to serve consumers and lower the cost of build-out."
The Chairman also said he believe that a national wireless broadband network will be economic in rural areas, whereas obsolete rural telephone service and DSL is not economic without massive federal rural telephone subsidies. In this light FairPoint Communications proposal to promote DSL for rural Maine doesn't make economic sense.report abuse
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