T-Mobile has been shedding workers from a central Maine call center, even though the company had accepted millions of tax dollars to create jobs in the state. Keri Evinson, executive vice-president of Local 1400 of the Communications Workers of America, told Maine public broadcasting, that T-Mobile should either deliver the 900 jobs they've promised, or return their public subsidies. Read More »
On Wednesday, December 15, the Communications Workers of America and the Speed Matters campaign released the 2010 Report on Internet Speeds in all 50 States. Read More »
The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced more grant awards to fund broadband mapping and planning in ten states. The recipients were designated entities in Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Read More »
FairPoint, the company that acquired Verizon's land lines in New England in 2008, filed for bankruptcy on October 26. This news comes as Verizon is seeking approval to sell 4.8 million landlines to Frontier Communications in 14 states. Read More »
With the help of high-resolution video and fast broadband connections, advances in telemedicine are coming rapidly. The use of broadband technology in health care is becoming more widespread everyday. Read More »
In the three years since Maine Gov. John Baldacci announced that the state would "ensure that 90 percent of Maine communities have broadband access by 2010," Connect ME has achieved much success. Read More »
Speed Matters has released our second Read More »
The Public Utilities Commission of New Hampshire has approved the sale of Verizon Communications operations to FairPoint Communications, ensuring the deal will move forward, thanks to $362 million in new commitments from Verizon. Whether or not the deal -- which will affect Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont -- would be in the best interest of the public, has been hotly debated. Because of this debate and scrutiny, spurred by both CWA and IBEW, the sale has moved forward only with major revisions, designed to improve service to New England customers. Read More »
CWA President Larry Cohen attended the "Building a Movement for Worker Justice" conference in Montpelier, VT last weekened. At the conference he highlighted the recent campaign by labor and community activists to "Stop the Sale" of Verizon's landlines in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire to FairPoint communications, a small, financially unstable company. Read More »
Verizon's plan to sell its northern New England lines to FairPoint Communications remained stalled this week in the face of continued public opposition. The companies have been engaging in intense lobbying for fast-track approval in Vermont, but Verizon has been unwilling to provide the resources necesssary to ensure that Fairpoint will be able to provide quality service to the region. Read More »
