big bird of sesame, ME It is amazing the things people think they know! Yes, everyone knows Verizon spent money they made in Maine on out of state Fios operations. Why did they not spend it in Maine? Because of the PUC regulators. On more than one occasion Verizon approached the state with Fios plans, the PUC balked at them because Fios would not be provided to absolutely everyone in the state that Verizon is now mandated to provide service to. Verizon went to the state wanting a state wide cable franchise,so that they would not have to deal individually with each municipality (ie this town needs a new fire truck, or this town needs a new library) and again the PUC denied any such request. The only people who should be blamed for Verizon leaving such a mess are the ones who had so much concern with approving the sale but, some how managed to have a unanimous approval for the sale. Thanks PUCreport abuse

Dave T of plymouth, ME MCP12,
My assumption as to union status was do to the negative rhetoric.. It was a joke. Sorry it was not read that way. I think you all understand the point here. Numbers from this transaction can be pulled from anywhere to back or oppose this sale. Numbers can and are skewed in ANY way the poster wants.. However I tend to look at the big picture.. Company who likes my rural backwoods ways, vs company who couldn't care less if I ever get out of Dodge.. My choice is clear. BTW something keeps popping up in the back of my mind, and Ive never asked it as of yet.. Those with the opposed position.. what are you GAINING from your position? (Maintaining the status quo with VZ will be NOTHING GAINED.)report abuse

freddy of oakland, ME Verizon is making way to much profit. A lot of this profit will go to connected lawyers anyways.
How about full disclosure of who the lawyers are
and are they working by the hour or are they getting a percentage of the profits?
Utilities get paid by consumers based on their investment. Exactly what will their investment be
and how much will the rates have to go up?report abuse

wawme of albion, ME MCP,
For the most part, it has been the unions that have been so vocal about this deal, but I never assumed anyone was union. I have been following FRP and other simular companies for around 10 years and they have done a pretty good job of growing and improving their infrastructure over the years. I do agree that their dividends are excessive, but if I remember, they have to reduce them going forward as part of the deal with the PUC. Also, If I remember correctly, the 10k also showed that the loss reported was greatly due to merger costs. I have been involved in 7 major mergers in my life at upper management level, and none of them ever went as planned. In todays financial market, I do not think there is such a thing as cheap commerial loans from anyone. Also as they rated the bonds as Junk, they also rated the company and bonds as "stable" and further went on to state that FRP should be in a very strong positive cash flow position starting in 2009. We can talk about the bigger companys like AT&T, but I have not seen any of them make an offer and Verizon has been trying to get out of here for years. Why would we say no to any Company willing to spend Millions and hire 700+ new employees. God only knows that we need it as a State. Verizon is just going to keep pulling out Money, and outsourcing what work they can to other states.report abuse