Andrew Sanborn

To the editor:

If you think that your phone bill and telephone service are unacceptably bad now, you ought to be hoping and praying, and perhaps contacting your state representative or the governor about the Fairpoint “deal”.

I was unsure of the issues involved in this impending deal, so I contacted my state senator, Deborah Reynolds, about it. Sen. Reynolds is on the Senate Commerce, Labor, and Consumer Protection Committee. I was impressed with the research and in depth analysis of this question that she conveyed to me, some of it copied from reports to the Public Utilities Commission. Thank god we have people like her working on our behalf.

Quoting one of the reports dated 10/11/08: “ …The Commission should deny Verizon NH’s proposed sale of it’s New Hampshire operations to Fairpoint. Although serious problems exist with Verizon NH’s present operations, acquisition by by Fairpoint would be yet worse for New Hampshire consumers.” “ The risks” (of this transaction) “ are high; the benefits are speculative ; the magnitude of the proposed transaction is substantial; the transaction itself would be irreversible; and Fairpoint’s plans are vague, still evolving, not based on full and complete due diligence….”

Quoting Deb Reynolds directly from a correspondence dated 11/24/08: “A distressed infrastructure combined with the financial burden this transaction would impose could result in little more than a declining telephone system, depriving the people of New Hampshire of the technological advances being enjoyed by our business competitors in other states for decades to come.

According to Susan Baldwin, the consultant retained as an expert witness by the PUC's Office of Consumer Advocate, the proposed transaction poses serious financial risks to New Hampshire residents. In fact, her testimony indicates that there is no set of conditions that would result in this proposed transaction being in the public interest”

My telephone service is the lifeline of my business. When your state senator warns you that this is a bad deal, listen up. Let’s not go from the frying pan into the fire.

Andrew Sanborn

Sanbornton