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Verizon-FairPoint Sale
Oct. 19th, 2007 01:07 amOkay, so more on this sale based on something I heard at the workshop I attended earlier today. Now, understanding I heard this from Comcast's legislative affairs person I realize I have to take it with a grain of salt, but it gave me food for thought. I already disagree with the sale and oppose it because it most certainly is not in the public interest and does not benefit consumers, especially us in the North Country. Today I heard what could possibly be one of the more compelling arguments if it turns out to be true.
Currently Verizon is obligated under agreements to trunk its phone calls over to Comcast or other digital phone customers (this service is VoIP or Voice over IP). This means that when a Verizon customer dials a number for someone on Comcast's or some other provider's digital phone subscriber, the phone rings on the other end and the two parties can communicate and the whole hand-off is transparent and seems as if it would should the receiver be another Verizon customer.
FairPoint allegedly is under no such onligation if it buys out Verizon's land lines according to this Comcast rep. Furthermore FairPoint has supposedly made some tenuous statement that it would carry on that obligation but with some troublesome conditions.
It was not outlined what these troublesome conditions were but it was claimed that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) expressed some serious concern over it.
So hypothetically speaking, if FairPoint, a company specializing in rural phone service with little or no VoIP competition and thus acting as a big fish in small ponds, decides it doesn't want to carry on Verizon's obligation to trunk calls to VoIP subscribers in good faith, should I as a Verizon customer (my only option up here in the very rural sections on the North Country) call my parents who are Comcast VoIP subscribers, the call would not happen. Rural customers could potentially get left in the informational stone age on something as seemingly simple as phone service. Add to this that FairPoint has already admitted that the extensive upgrades that may be necessary to existing Verizon physical plant in the North Country may mean delays in bringing us DSL. They have no idea in what state our infrastructure exists and could be surprised by a very daunting need for serious, expensive upgrades.
Are these claims about FairPoint's obligations and hesitations regarding trunking of VoIP true? I don't know. I haven't yet been able to find information regarding these claims to verify them or debunk them. Regardless, it does give food for thought and I only wish I had known about these concerns when I attended the PUC Public Hearing on the sale in Plymouth a few months back. If anyone can find information on this and share it would be greatly appreciated. I will do my best to keep looking into it myself.
Currently Verizon is obligated under agreements to trunk its phone calls over to Comcast or other digital phone customers (this service is VoIP or Voice over IP). This means that when a Verizon customer dials a number for someone on Comcast's or some other provider's digital phone subscriber, the phone rings on the other end and the two parties can communicate and the whole hand-off is transparent and seems as if it would should the receiver be another Verizon customer.
FairPoint allegedly is under no such onligation if it buys out Verizon's land lines according to this Comcast rep. Furthermore FairPoint has supposedly made some tenuous statement that it would carry on that obligation but with some troublesome conditions.
It was not outlined what these troublesome conditions were but it was claimed that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) expressed some serious concern over it.
So hypothetically speaking, if FairPoint, a company specializing in rural phone service with little or no VoIP competition and thus acting as a big fish in small ponds, decides it doesn't want to carry on Verizon's obligation to trunk calls to VoIP subscribers in good faith, should I as a Verizon customer (my only option up here in the very rural sections on the North Country) call my parents who are Comcast VoIP subscribers, the call would not happen. Rural customers could potentially get left in the informational stone age on something as seemingly simple as phone service. Add to this that FairPoint has already admitted that the extensive upgrades that may be necessary to existing Verizon physical plant in the North Country may mean delays in bringing us DSL. They have no idea in what state our infrastructure exists and could be surprised by a very daunting need for serious, expensive upgrades.
Are these claims about FairPoint's obligations and hesitations regarding trunking of VoIP true? I don't know. I haven't yet been able to find information regarding these claims to verify them or debunk them. Regardless, it does give food for thought and I only wish I had known about these concerns when I attended the PUC Public Hearing on the sale in Plymouth a few months back. If anyone can find information on this and share it would be greatly appreciated. I will do my best to keep looking into it myself.
