UPDATED - Verizon, Maine PUC, Governor Baldacci and Fairpoint

See also: Verizon Versus Fairpoint - http://verizonvsfairpoint.com/
and
Verizon angles to keep state business - The Pheonix
and
NH Regulators Say Fairpoint and Verizon Should Restructure Their Deal
and
The Best of Maine News - Maine's Leading Political Figures, Etc.
and
Steal Us, It's Free!


UPDATED ON BOTTOM - DETAILED TIMELINE BEFORE RECENT EVENTS: -

A timeline:

1. Report argues against line sale PUC urged to reject deal proposed ... - SunJournal.com (Nov. 27)
Excerpt:"A report to Maine utility regulators recommends against the proposed sale of Verizon Communications' landline business in northern New England to FairPoint Communications Inc.A hearing examiner's report to the Public Utilities Commission says the $2.7 billion deal "subjects both ratepayers and shareholders to substantial risks and harms that are not outweighed by any of the potential benefits of the transaction.""

PUC advises against Verizon sale to FairPoint - VillageSoup (Dec. 5)
Excerpt:"Public Utilities Commission staff in Maine recommended against the sale last week, as did the Public Advocate’s Office in October. The full commission is scheduled to meet Thursday, Dec. 13 to make up its mind, but has the option of delaying a vote until later in the month."

2 & 3.Verizon CEO, Baldacci meet - Central Maine Morning Sentinel (Dec. 7)
Excerpt:"Gov. John Baldacci met with the chief executive officer of Verizon last week at the company's request, just days after a report recommended against allowing Verizon to sell its telephone network to a smaller company, Baldacci's spokesman confirmed Thursday...
Farmer said Seidenberg did not ask Baldacci to take a position, but wanted to discuss with the governor why his company believes the sale is possible."They did not ask him to get involved in the PUC process, and he would not get involved," Farmer said."

Verizon CEO meets with Guv - Mainebiz Daily (Dec. 7)
Excerpt:"Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg requested a meeting with Baldacci after the staff at the Maine Public Utilities Commission recommended the sale of Verizon's 1.5 million landlines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to FairPoint be halted. Baldacci has not taken a stand on the deal, but Seidenberg wanted to discuss the company's interest in moving forward with the sale..."

2 & 3. FairPoint official: PUC report biased - Kennebec Journal (Dec. 8)
Excerpt:"A FairPoint Communications executive slammed as unfair, biased and unbalanced a Maine Public Utilities Commission staff report recommending the proposed sale of Verizon's land-line telephone business to FairPoint be rejected.
"I'm disappointed it wasn't a more fair and balanced piece," Walter Leach Jr., executive vice president of corporate development for FairPoint, said of the PUC staff recommendation."

Busy - Signal - FairPoint Reacts to criticism of its proposed deal to buy Verizon's landlines in ME, NH and VT - Mainebiz (Weekly edition, dated Dec. 10, page 11) (Note: No online link so typed in by hand)
Excerpt:"In early December, after the Maine Public Utilities Commission staff released a 300-page report urging the commission to reject the Maine part of FairPoint Communications' $2.7 billion bid for Verizon's landlines in Northern New England, FairPoint Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Walter Leach Jr. launched an informal Maine media blitz to convey his company's side of the story."

To the Citizens of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont (a full page ad I believe although I do not see it actually noted as such (letter from FairPoint Communications) in Mainebiz weekly Dec. 10 issue (p. 25) signed by Gene Johnson, CEO) (Note: No online link, typed in by hand)
Excerpt:"FairPoint has held firm to one simple concept since we announced our intention to acquire Verizon's wireless operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont some 11 months ago: We Want To Be Your Communications Provider...
And yet, today we find ourselves in the midst of a very challenging situation. Headlines are suggesting that FairPoint's proposal to acquire Verizon's telephone lines shouldn't happen."

4. Settlement reached on fairpoint-Verizon deal - Mainebiz Daily (today)
Excerpt:
"Maine's Office of the Public Advocate and the advocacy staff at the Public Utilities Commission have reached an agreement with Verizon and FairPoint Communications and now support the $2.7 billion sale of Verizon's landline business to FairPoint....
The labor unions, however, did not agree to the settlement and still oppose the sale. "The terms of the proposed stipulation would not enable FairPoint to meet reasonable standards of financial fitness," the labor unions say in its PUC filing. "As such, approval of the proposed transaction, even under the terms of the proposed stipulation, would not serve the public good.""

PUC delays deliberations on Verizon sale - MaineToday.com (Today)
Excerpt:"Key parties in the proposed sale had reached a settlement late Wednesday on terms designed to convince state utility regulators to approve the deal. But other parties, including labor unions, did not sign onto it."

UPDATE: Prior Verizon and/or Fairpoint in Maine:

Senate Telecom Immunity Bill Threatens Maine Privacy Complaint - MCLU - Tuesday, November 15, 2007
Excerpt:"Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is debating a telecommunications immunity bill that may put an end to a Maine privacy complaint about warrantless surveillance. The proposed legislation, recently passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, proposes to extend blanket immunity from investigation or lawsuit to any telecommunications company that conspired with the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of the telephone and Internet communications of reportedly millions of Americans....

In May of 2006, 22 Maine Verizon customers filed a privacy complaint with the Maine Public Utilities Commission. The federal government sued to stop the investigation. That lawsuit is one of dozens of lawsuits against the telephone company that have been consolidated in a single proceeding before a Federal Court in California. Notably, the privacy complaint against Verizon does not contain any request for monetary damages. All of the lawsuits against the telephone companies request a permanent cessation of warrantless surveillance. The Bush Administration has requested that Congress move before any of the lawsuits are decided, although there is nothing that would prevent Congress from waiting to decide the immunity question after the courts have weighed in on the constitutionality of the warrantless spy program."

MCLU Urges PUC to Consider Privacy as Condition of Verizon/FairPoint Sale - MCLU - November 02, 2007
Excerpt:"The MCLU and a group of Verizon telephone customers urged the Maine Public Utilities Commission today to make privacy protections for telephone customers a condition of sale in the transfer of Verizon assets to FairPoint Communications. The MCLU and the consumers also argued that continued jurisdiction in the ongoing case regarding past violations of customer privacy should be a condition of sale.

“Sale of its assets should not mean Verizon is off the hook for violating the privacy rights of its customers,” said Shenna Bellows, MCLU Executive Director. “Mainers need to know that their private telephone conversations will be free from surveillance by the government or the phone company.”

American Civil Liberties Union : Verizon Admits Turning Over ... - ACLU - 10/16/2007
Excerpt:
"Verizon is asserting that the acquisition of its operations by Fairpoint will remove the state's jurisdiction over any privacy violations it may have committed."

Opponents Of Verizon/Fairpoint Land Line Deal Seek Backing Of Governor Baldacci - MPBN - Date Aired: 9/25/2007

Maine Argument Stands Up In Domestic Spying Case - MPBN - Date Aired: 7/24/2007

Financial Woes Facing Fairpoint Communications - MPBN - Date Aired: 6/13/2007

PUC Not Letting Verizon off Hook - Common Dreams, citing Press Herald January 30, 2007) -
Excerpt:"COMPLAINT TIMELINE...
SEPT. 12, 2006: Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe files a document in U.S. District Court in Bangor, arguing that the federal government's lawsuit is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution and doesn't belong in court."

AG Vows Strong Defense Of PUC's Right To Investigate Verizon - MPBN - Date Aired: 8/22/2006

U.S. threatens suit if Maine probes Verizon ties to NSA - Press Herald -August 4, 2006
Excerpt:" The Bush administration is threatening to sue if Maine regulators decide to investigate whether Verizon Communications illegally turned over customer information to the National Security Agency.
Verizon customers in Maine have asked the state's Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether the telecom giant violated privacy laws by cooperating with a domestic surveillance program. The PUC is expected to decide Monday whether to open such a probe."

ALEX: DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE MAINE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION STANDS ON RELEVANT ISSUES? I don't see much turning up in a web search.