Previously I noted that Verizon was selling off 1.6 million rural New England customers. VZ is selling them to a company called Fairpoint:

The operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, serving 1.5 million homes, will be acquired by FairPoint Communications Inc. of North Carolina, the companies announced Tuesday. FairPoint owns local phone networks in 31 mostly rural markets in 18 states, including the three where it is acquiring Verizon’s business.

Verizon to sell New England assets, BRUCE MEYERSON, Associated Press, Posted on Tue, Jan. 16, 2007

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) had tried to stop the sale in the interests of saving jobs. Continue reading →

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) points out an interesting result of telecom deregulation:

CWA and the IBEW, with the support of state and local AFL-CIOs, are engaged in a massive campaign to block Verizon’s plan to sell 1.6 million local access lines in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.

Campaign Underway to Block Verizon Sale in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire CWA, August 11, 2006

When AT&T was the national carrier, it connected everyone. With divestiture and deregulation, it seems at least one telco is further divesting accounts that it finds too expensive. This means that those 1.6 million local rural POTS subscribers may end up paying more for their telephone service, if they can afford it. Continue reading →