Verizon Job Cuts Despite OK for Long Distance

By David Darman on Monday, June 17, 2002.

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Verizon announced last week that it will cut 900 jobs in New England. At virtually the same time, the company gained the approval of New Hampshire regulators to offer long distance service in the state.

NHPR's David Darman has more.

Verizon will eliminate about 100 positions in New Hampshire. The company hopes to achieve the reductions through a combination of early retirements and layoffs. Erle Pierce, Verizon spokesman, says the company is reducing the number of workers that install equipment and work on lines, because of declining customer orders.
17 210 ï¿½we have negative growth in our wire/line business. We have 30,000 fewer lines this year than we had last year. Competition is out there. People are leaving our network. Theyï¿½re going to competitors. This is good news, for the competitor, but its bad news if you work for verizon and your job is to install those lines. 17 240

The company is making the cuts at the same time it received word from state regulators that it its application to offer long distance in New Hampshire can move to the Federal Communications Commission.
The PUC approved Verizon for long distance, after commissioners decided to separate a contentious issue from the application. Under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, Verizon has to open its local service system to competitors, before it can offer long distance. The PUC had held back the application, because local competitors complained that Verizonï¿½s fees for gaining access to the local network were too high. Kate Bailey, director of telecommunications for the PUC, says the commissioners decided to set up a separate ï¿½rate caseï¿½, after it became apparent that Verizon would not budge on the access rate issue.
What they were hoping is that verizon would agree to lower their rates without a formal proceeding, but verizon was unwilling to do that. 09 26 so, weï¿½re going to go into the formal proceeding, and the commission decided not to hold up the 271, or the long distance application 09 34

Companies hoping to offer local service in the state say that they are disappointed that the PUC separated local access fees from the long distance application. Benjamin Thayer, president of Bay Ring Communications in Portsmouth, says the PUC gave into pressure from Verizon, and now the company can use its size to simply beat down potential local competitors.
22 20 verizon, as I think parties know is a litigation machine. And they could draw that docket out for an expansive period of time. All the while, the competitors paying very high, wholesale rates. 22 37

Though Verizon may soon offer long distance, company officials say there is little chance that the job cuts theyï¿½ve announced will be reversed. The union representing some of those workers is trying to prevent as many layoffs as possible. But Kevin Cavanaugh, business agent of IBEW Local 2320 in Manchester says its hard to understand how a new line of business canï¿½t mean better times for Verizon.
05 03 they sit here and complain about what weï¿½re making and the amount of people they have. But you get these top executives who are well compensated and we definitely want to be behind the company and with the company thatï¿½s economically sound. And, I mean if they can get long distance, good for them. But weï¿½re the same way. If theyï¿½re making money, I canï¿½t see how theyï¿½re laying people off, or, declaring people surplus. 05 25

Verizon canï¿½t offer long distance in the state until the Federal Communication Commission, or FCC, approves their application. That approval may not happen until sometime this fall. Meanwhile, state regulators will review Verizonï¿½s local access fees. The PUCï¿½s case will probably last until later this year.