Verizon officials say they have put their traditional, local phone system in Northern New England up for sale.
In New Hampshire, the reaction to the news is muted, as no agreement for sale has yet been announced.
But at least one group of stakeholders has concerns about Verizon's possible exit from the local service scene.
New Hampshire Public Radio's David Darman has more.
A deal is far from done.
But Verizon's Jill Wurm says her company is talking with would be buyers of the region's traditional telephone system.
the company continually evaluates its assets and properties for correct strategic fit, for financial performances and we're frequently approached by other companies that are interested in potentially buying properties that Verizon owns.
The business Verizon would part with includes more than one and a half million customers in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
Those customers still get service the old fashioned way.
That is, over the phone line strung between phone poles.
Verizon officials say they have no intention of selling their wireless business in any of the three states.
It's one of the fastest growing parts of the company.
Arthur Kraus has spent 30 years in the telecommunications industry.
He now runs his own company, AK Associates, in Derry.
Kraus says Verizon's dial tone business is bedeviled by the fact that it is subject to regulation.
verizon has to sell everybody. and i think that's the problem. its not that their infrastructure can't handle it. its they are regulated. its like they've got handcuffs on compared to someone that's non regulated. cause they won't go into an area where they'll lose money over there and make some more money over there. they just get a higher return they take the cream of the crop. .
Under regulation, Verizon has to offer services across the state, even in rural areas where services are not always profitable.
(what's being regulated mean??)
Thus, if Verizon finds a buyer for its traditional network, the deal would have to be approved by the Public Utilities Commission.
The PUC would also oversee any potential buyer. .
Verizon officials say they want to offer customers a bundle of services, including internet, phone, and digital television.
And toward that end, the company has wired 23 communities in Southern New Hampshire with the most up to date fiber optic cable system, called FIOS.
But earlier this month, the company put that effort on hold, backing out of negotiations with Salem on offering the service.
Any sale of the dial up network could include these fiber optic lines.
Bob Erickson of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2320 says he finds that worrisome.
verizon's the only company that i know of that is offering this fiber to the premise. i don't believe any other company is. and some of the companies that we've heard that may be interested in purchasing the northern states, they hang their hat on the DSL, which is fine, but there's no video with DSL...it has no where near the bandwith capability of the fios does, not even close. so i don't know. i don't think that's a growth thing.
A new owner of the dial up network might also make job cuts after taking over.
That worry and concerns about maintaining pay grades under a new owner are also preoccupying union members at Verizon.
Most state officials are taking a wait and see approach to any deal that might materialize.
Governor Lynch met with union leaders earlier this week, and told them he was concerned about their jobs.
And he said he wants to see broadband offered in more rural parts of the state.
Another concern is the state's emergency 9-1-1 system.
The local phone company has long provided this service.
Bruce Cheney, the state's Director of Emergency Communication, says he doesn't think a sale will have much effect on his operation.
In fact, he says he feels like he's ready for any new change.
when i started at 9-1-1, i was dealing with New England Telephone. and shortly thereafter starting dealing with NYNEX, then Bell Atlantic and now Verizon. so i've already dealt with three iterations of the phone company, and this will just be a fourth one.
Verizon officials have said about 6 or 7 companies are in the running for the Northern New England phone network.
The price for it has been estimated at 2 to 3 billion dollars.
The company has previously sold off local networks in Hawaii and Kentucky
