Politically Thinking: FairPoint walks fine financial line

Posted on October 29, 2009 |

• Editorial

By Eric L. Davis

FairPoint Communications’ resort to bankruptcy court to restructure its debts raises important policy issues for state and national legislators and utility regulators. FairPoint, Vermont’s dominant provider of landline communications services, bought Verizon’s landline operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in early 2008. FairPoint, which had been a small company serving rural markets in southern states, added more than 1 million new customers in the Verizon deal, along with over $2 billion in debt.

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