Summary
1. The latest DSL Prime newsletter expresses some concern about the fate of FairPoint Communications. 2. The publication claims, “any financial analysis shows them soon insolvent.” 3. However, it correctly points out that Verizon has no interest in seeing FairPoint go under.
Analysis
Concerning the regulators, Verizon will do everything it can to make sure there is a happy ending in northern New England. DSL Prime also makes a good point that government assistance should be readily available to FairPoint. Most importantly, we have recently discussed the implausibility of an ILEC going bankrupt -- and that Hawaiian Telcom was an anomaly.
The local press is having a field day with the situation at FairPoint. But it was inevitable there would be initial problems after the handoff from Verizon. There are going to be a fair share of bugs created with such a complex switchover. And FairPoint appears to have been upfront about holdups. In the end, the quality and range of service for subscribers will eventually be far superior than they have experienced in the past.
