Buyout of Verizon Phone Service Could Generate 280 New Jobs in Maine
By Tux Turkel, Portland Press Herald, Maine
Jun. 29–SOUTH PORTLAND — The company seeking to buy Verizon’s phone network in northern New England plans to create 280 jobs in Maine — most based in Portland and Bangor — if the deal is approved later this year by state utility regulators.
The announcement Thursday by FairPoint Communications was part of a carefully timed publicity campaign by the company and its supporters to highlight the 675 new jobs it would bring to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. News conferences were held at company offices here and in Bangor, as well as in Manchester and Littleton, N.H., and Burlington, Vt.
The event here had the feel of a political campaign, with business leaders and area legislators rising to speak in support of the sale and cheering FairPoint’s commitment to economic development.
The company said in January, when the proposed sale was first announced, that it would need 600 more workers to take over functions Verizon is now performing outside the region. These functions include administration, network operations and accounting.
The news on Thursday was the number of jobs in each state, and word that hiring of some top managers has begun. Under the proposal, Portland and Bangor each would get 125 new jobs. The other 30 would be spread around Maine.
Verizon has roughly 3,000 workers in the three states, including 1,200 in Maine. FairPoint has pledged not to cut existing positions.
Thursday’s events came less than three months before Maine residents will get to comment on the proposed sale at statewide hearings conducted by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. In October, the PUC will conduct its formal review.
Peter Nixon, FairPoint’s chief operating officer, said the company couldn’t wait for a decision to start hiring and making other arrangements. It expects to spend nearly $100 million preparing to take over Verizon’s network, he said, which includes 1.6 million access lines.
“If we wait, it will take another year to hire the people and get the systems in place,” he said.
The $2.7 billion purchase has come under fire from union officials and some telecommunications experts. They question whether Charlotte, N.C.-based FairPoint, which operates 31 local exchanges in Maine and 17 other states, has the financial muscle to take over Verizon’s poles, wires and equipment, and expand broadband access in a heavily rural region.
The sale would make FairPoint the nation’s eighth-largest phone company but also would saddle it with $1.7 billion in debt.
FairPoint says the cash flow it would inherit from Verizon’s customers would be used to pay down debt, and it has pledged to boost high-speed Internet access. The company soon will release more detailed information on its broadband expansion plans, Nixon said Thursday.
Peter McLaughlin, business manager for Local 2327 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Thursday’s news conferences were timed to divert public attention from questions about debt and broadband access.
“They’re trying to put as positive a spin on this as possible,” he said.
Nixon said FairPoint has begun hiring managers in Maine to cover areas that include human resources, legal, telemarketing and facilities, and even has hired two senior vice presidents. It’s premature to discuss pay scales for other jobs, he said, but they will be competitive in the market, and some would be covered by union contracts.
Although the sale must be approved by utility regulators, FairPoint has invested time and money courting allies elsewhere. The investment paid off this month when the Maine Legislature failed to pass a proposed law that FairPoint opposed, a move that would have tightened the standards by which the PUC must decide the case.
Nixon said that even if the deal fails, FairPoint would continue to operate its local exchanges. But he expressed confidence that the sale will be approved.
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