A new piece of legislation has the potential to shut down a $600 million corporate tax windfall in the Verizon-Frontier deal, and protect consumers, workers, and communities. Read More »
Between December 22 and December 31, The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced an additional twenty broadband mapping and planning grants in eighteen states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 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 »
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 »
New Hampshire economic development officials are holding a series of open forums, across New Hampshire, to gather information for a "statewide broadband action plan." The Division of Economic Development, with the regional accounting firm Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, have planned five forums seeking public input about the telecommunications infrastructure and the need for a statewide high speed Internet action plan. 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 »
Union members and community activists opposed to the Verizon-FairPoint deal took part in a grassroots lobby day Wednesday at the New Hampshire State House in Concord to talk with their state legislators about the deal's impact on the future of New Hampshire. Read More »
CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have released a report that shows the $600 million in tax savings Verizon would receive from its deal with FairPoint is enough to expand high speed Internet access to everyone in Verizon's current Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont service areas. Read More »
