Wait a minute...FairPoint is going through bankruptcy because they can't pay their bills, so WE have to pay their legal fees? Am I missing something with this? What is wrong with this picture?

Sebec, we're not paying FairPoint's bills; we're paying our legal bills to ensure FairPoint doesn't hurt us.

Gee, I think the PUC ought to have their pay docked because they didn't listen to those who practically stood on the rooftops shouting that Fairpoint was in no way ready to take over Verizon.

I hope everyone remembers that this $100,000 + tax would not have been an issue if our esteemed and "totally honest"? politicians hadn't raided the 9-1-1 fund that was supposed to be ONLY for funding the equipment needed to operate 9-1-1 to the tune of about 7 MILLION. A few hundred thousand for the legal protection wouldn't have been an issue if that money was still there instead of being spirited away to slip into the general fund to hide the ineptitude of our elected officials! Or should I say crooks? We can't pay legal fees without a new tax because what we were taxed and are still being taxed on was stolen from what the taxpayers thought they were paying for! How many of you out there knew that your $.50 per month, per line tax called the 9-1-1 tax was being raided by your elected officials? Not a lot of you I'll bet. The bankruptcy is a dangerous precident and we have to be sure that our phone service remains strong but we should have had the money in that fund to be able to use it without resorting to a new tax due to abuse of a fund that was healthy and doing its job very well to support a failing and broken state budget.

Story reminds me why I cut my landline so many years ago!

Well I wonder how this applies or doesn't apply to people who have digi-phone aka phone thru their cable internet provider ( Beeline ) because frankly before I pay one cent toward this I will cut my digi-phone and just use my cells. Or will it include cell phone users too? THE ARTICLE IS TRULY NOT VERY INFORMATIVE!

very simple, no new taxes, fees, or assessments! Fairpoint can leave the state for all I care, and the Public Advocate's office can be part of the budget cuts,. The idiots in Augusta are to blame for Fairpoint being allowed in the state in the first place.

$500/hour? Gee-it's a shame there isn't a single attorney in the State of Maine that could do this little gig. Instead once again we export the highest paying jobs. And to NYC, of all places! Nice job boys. Keep up the good work...

sassyfrazz hit the nail right on the head...If I'm every lucky enough to have a few extra pennies, I think I'll keep them...

Lawyers seeking taxpayers money to give to lawyers , isn't that a conflict of interest ? I for one am not interested ! $500. per hour is less than many in this state make in a week unless , of course, you are a lawyer. Maybe it's time for the citizens of this country to take it back from these jerks !

You'd think that with all the lawyers in state government they would be able to handle this "in house".

mr sherman...those high fallootin big city lawyas from new yawk are gonns give you zackly 200 hrs. of thier crooked time for OUR $100,000!!! in your dreams.. NOT outta my skinny wallet!!!

This is just another way for the grand ole State of Maine to grab some of the taxpayers dollars. I am sorry to see that Barry Hobbins supports this.

Your kidding correect? If the company could have fulfilled their part of the bargin when the y took over we would not be here.

Keep reaching Fairpoint, much like the help I got when you took over and my net, phone and fax no longer worked. Don't you hate the frustration?

PS: 19 year olds don't have mch expierence in trouble shooting a broken company.

While keeping the legal fees in Marine might be nice, you'd need a Marine firm with at least 2 or 3 lawyers admitted to the NY bar (where the proceedings are being held). PLUS they'd need to be bankruptcy specialists. Not gonna happen.

On 1/17/10 at 10:28 PM, Portboy wrote: Great job of explaining the why's of this situation, and to think about every fund in Augusta will come to the same end because the people handling this one are handling the others, I can't wait to see how much we will have to make up for the shortfall in the state highway fund when push comes to shove on the outdated and condemned bridges and and other necessary highway work that need to be done and countless other interests that moneys have been collected in advance to cover...... den of thieves, just can't wait..

If the State of Maine can't afford $100,000 in legal fees to protect our consumers,our state is in a huge economic and fiscal mess. Thank you Mr. & Mrs Democratic legislators. We appreciate your work for the past 37 years.

Do we get a tube of KY and a hug & kiss with all this?

I am appalled..My Mum is a senior in Maine and in her 70s..Ye can go on thrir web aite ..True the paper did not give much info..The name of the business is listed..It sounds like they handled it poorly.. Look in to it people. It is yer money.Look in to it..The paper was vague..This tax is it to be on yer phone or what and how long is it to be there..People can't afford this..Every time we turn around there is a higher tax on this/that..This is true in all states ..Not just Maine..Ithink the legal aystem needs over hauling..It is pitiful..The greed..It is not yer fault the company blew the money..As a Mainera it seems unfair..In a way it is..IIs FairPoint the only phone company serving Maine..

Maybe the PUC could dip into the payola Fairpoint slipped them and cover this for us. Anyone from the PUC feel free to jump right in.....anyone?

MEMA, take over the phone lines via eminent domain (as the socialist state likes to do against us).

This bankrutcy mess will go on for at least 5 years. Start counting, I'm not kidding. Watch just how long the leaches reach out through the phone lines right into our wallets.

Next they will want to tax the snow that lands on our lawn to pay for DOT plowing.............way to go Maine. What was the saying 100 years ago, "As goes Maine, So goes the Nation"? Well, as a nation we're going backward and becoming a 3rd world nation when our own state can't even defend it's citizens (who never wanted Fairpoint in the first place).

YOU remember this on election day folks!

P.S. I'd rather we sent the money to Haiti than to buy an attorney a new BMW

Why do we as consumers have to pay for this? Didn't the PUC and the state make this decision? I as a tax payer paid the salaries of the people that made this decision in the first place. Then, I have to pay for the service from Fairpoint which has been shotty at best, I am paying for the PUC people to work with Fairpoint to get this fixed and now I am being asked AGAIN to pay for legal representation for myself? Hogwash..

In this day and age we do not need another fee (which is just another name for a tax) Fairpoint should have never been allowed to purchase Verizon land lines in the first place. Really good job by the PUC but what else is new with Augusta.

why doesnt the PUC just rule aginst fairpoint outrignt that fairpoint failed and something must be done to get maine new hampshire and vermont back to verizon. many people have suffered because of fairpoints shortcomiings from the very beginning red flags were up the day of the cutoff from verizon last february i got disconnected that day because of a billing . i had serious health issues it took me over a month to get my service back i ended up in eastern maine med because of a cardiac issue . all sorts of stories have come out 911 glitches a man with terminal cancer was disconected in searsport it is time for verizon to take man nh vermont back fairpoint failed from the beginning. fairpoint has hurt us enough

Why should we have to pay even more to pay legal fees? Come on.

Apparently the Attorney General isn't competent to represent the interests of the rate payers.

He does have a nice pot of tobacco settlement money that isn't really accomplishing much of anything.

I think the sate would be far better advised to fight our fight in the regulatory - PUC - arena. The same arena they didn't fight in at all when they gave Fairpoint our telephone business in the first place. The Maine PUC is a crew of Baldacci cronies and they are ill equipped to do anything, but let's see if they can catch the ball on the rebound, rather than having the state piss money down the bankruptcy drain.

Nope not paying I will go to a walkie talkie or tin cans and string. PUC and all other morons who didn't listen should pay this themselves!

I am so tired of the PUC representing the Utiliy companies and not the users of them. They are sopposed to regulate these compainies and make them responive to the customers. Instead they give them what ever they want and then tell us the users TOUGH!

Just as an FYI, some searching on the internet I found the phone number for "Richard Davies". I have called to express my feelings on this. As I am sure the public advocates office is not seeing any of these comments.

Richard Davies

Public Advocate

(207) 287-2445

Puc? What exactly was done with the money received from this sham of a company when you fined them? Shouldn't that money go towards this bill?

You idiots voted for this seems as tho YOU should have to pay something for this debacle. With the Governor and his lackeys supporting the sale seems like a few of them should be jumping on their swords right about now.

What a scam!

I want the Public Advocate to "DO" his job and protect Maine citizens, but I think Verizon should pay him...

("...we want to be active players to protect the public interest of Maine,” Davies said.) Good! About time!

Verizon bilked Maine taxpayers out of a huge amount of sales tax by using a Reverse Morris Trust to do the deal. They needed a FairPoint to screw... and screw they did. FairPoint's due diligence was no better than MPUC or MPAO or any of our hired help in Augusta. I went to Augusta and protested the sale... everyone said... "What are we gonna do?" and threw up their hands... They should have used their backbones and said, "No, we'll wait for another buyer."

I don't want Verizon back.

There are several CLEC/ILEC's in Maine that could handle larger territories very nicely. Give it all to MidMaine, Oxford, Unitel, TDS, and Tidewater...

What a freakin' mess this is!! I am so glad I switched from Fairpoint when I did.

Commenters are fair in criticizing the PUC, they really did NOT show sufficient rigor in approving the FairPoint deal, just as their counterparts in NH & VT failed to do...many of us could see this train wreck coming. But Fairpoint threw plenty of money around the state for experts, lobbiests, Chambers of Commerce...to build an aura of inevitability, as in "Verizon is not putting money into Maine, but WE will!" Sure...

Bunch of crooks, and the FP leadership who pushed the deal all promptly cashed in their artificially-inflated stock and "retired." And of course they hired as CEO one of the top people from Duke Power, one of the nastiest companies in the eastern U.S., so we are now in a mess.

And while it seems the monies should come from the - admittedly hurting - regular state budget for this significant legal case that could cost consumers quite a lot of money if we don't get involved, the Governor - short-sighted as usual - is apparently holding tight on this...penny-wise & pound-foolish. And the Attorney-General's relatively small staff doesn't really have the expertise for this.

I'm not happy funding it through users, but if we are not represented, it will cost us more.

Thanks, BTW, for the heads-up on the 911 funds.

'there are many more hidden that is just coming to the surface now of what has been overlook as ignored than of the problems that we have to deal with now',

Governor, remember you promised no new taxes -- this is a tax. Plus, why isn't the AGs office handling this case for the State of Maine? The AGs office has certainly represented the state in such cases in the past.

Personally, I think the Baldacci administration and the PUC should fund all of this since they are the parties who supported Fairpoint's take over. If I remember right the former Public Advocate was against the Fairpoint takeover. The present Public Advocate is a Baldacci placement. And, if I remember right, one of the PUC commissioners is a Baldacci placement. Baldacci has been very generous to his political staff in placing them in positions of power throughout state government. So, Governor, why don't you find the money and not tax us poor Mainers anymore.

Well, the current Public Advocate (& the PUC staff) opposed the FP buy-out of Verizon, and has likely been the most vigulent of any public official in monitoring how poorly it is working. But the PUC commissioners rolled, and - though I have NO inside information - I suspect the Gov may have leaned on the Advocate's office just a bit...

The PUC has the authority...essentially all the Advocate can do is use "the bully pulpit" to try & call attention to FPs failures, abuses and threats.

If folks don't use the Public Advocate's "Ratepayers Guide" in choosing telecommunications services, you should check it out. We saved money...

WE NEED SINGLE PAYER LAWCARE!!!!!!!

Verizon failed to live up to their responsibility to keep our communications infrastructure up with growing needs while getting a tax break to do so. The unions warned us that Fairpoint had a bad reputation and less capacity to do the job they inherited than did the outgoing Verizon, so surprise, surprise, they're going bankrupt.

I suppose we'll have to chip in, but hasn't the state been collecting money from phone customers forever just for this contigency? No, of course it's just gone into the general fun(d). The PUC should never have allowed the sale to Fairpoint in the first place, but I'm sure somehow they got their share.

The next shoe to drop will be Verizon trying to buy back Fairpoint's assets for pennies on the dollar, winning both going & coming.

Verizon set this failure up by not properly maintaining the infrastructure, because of profit concerns, before it dumped it on Fairpoint. This is the RBOCs' SOP. They milk a network for what's it's worth and then dump it on an unsuspecting IOC when deterioration causes the network to become unprofitable. After the IOC brings the backbone up to snuff, the RBOC offers to buy back the subscriber area to eliminate the competition. The IOC, often with its finances depleted, is forced to go along.

If FairPoint comes out of this, they will provide better service and take better care of the infrastructure. If they manage to hang onto it, you will not be facing the same situation in another 50 years.

Public Advocate Richard Davies is seeking an emergency assessment on telephone users of at least $100,000 to pay for the legal costs to represent Maine consumers in the FairPoint bankruptcy case under way in New York City.

Geeze!

Why aren't all states doing a class action lawsuit and pooling legal costs?

The 1990 telelcommunications act (and deregulation for electricity) is the culprit and so short sighted, as the market forces would have done the same thing as in Canada without it. Yes a little higher costs for superior service and coverage for cable, wireless, etc. My daughter went to school in Nova Scotia and I can't recall her being without cell service or access to broadband to and from Maine.

and for "..Verizon set this failure up by not properly maintaining the infrastructure," this is inaccurate as Verizon had the most efficient, and well maintained infrastructure when they passed it off to FP according to Verizon engineers I spoke with compared to Mass or NH for example. In Maine all the new equipment and trucks resources was shipped out of Maine after sale and new staffing levels were drastically cut in Maine. However FP had a poor business model and it's financials were based on a pipe dream of finding efficiencies that were already removed. Again Reny's could not operate Walmart if they could buy Walmart for example. And FP is like Reny's buying Walmart.

I'm not a Fair Point customer and their bankruptcy is going to cost me! Is it a fair point to argue that non customers must pay for lawyers when we otherwise have no legal standing in this matter?

Only In America!!!!!!

Remember that Fair Point is the only state wide system. Verizon dumped ME, NH, & VT. Who else is going to step in?

Cell phone service providers along with Time-Warner only serve the profitable areas. When a cell phone user calls an

isolated local in Maine, they are using Fair Point to complete their call. Everyone in this state has an interest in this case.

Sounds like the Obama way...

They mess up ...government and companies and we have to bail them out with increase in taxes. Now in legal fees... I'm sure their CEO's were taken care of. Our politicians take care of themselves. Most of them anyway...

They want us to leave our monies to the towns when we die. Now they want us to pay for lawyers to do the litigation of the state. They must read how many on here say we need more taxes. What is a little more? Verizon made a business move, they sold 3 states that did nothing for their business. The only place that was making money was a small triangle down in southern NH. So like any business that has a chance to sell, they did. Fairpoint wanted to get into the big time and was used to doing business in smaller locales. They wanted to move into the Northeast. They did. Fairpoint kept all of Verizon's workers, garages, central offices and so forth. The unions didn't really care about service, they only cared about what their members would lose if Fairpoint rolled over. If the unions cared about service, they would have been all over their members to be productive and to provide better service than they were providing. For the money a phone tech was making including OT, one would think things would have been much better even with Verizon. The states and municipalities also bled Verizon for every dime they could squeeze. Verizon left, the states okayed it, Fairpoint couldn't handle it with the systems they had to change to and the employees didn't change. They stayed with Fairpoint, they came with the sale.

What happens when people loose business because phone service and internet services are down? Who bails us out?

I was supposed to get a refund back in September, ordered by the better business bureau. Needless to say it's a long story & Fairpoint is completely incompetent. I still haven't gotten my refund check. When I called to ask what the delay was, they were waiting for me to verify my mailing address. I did that when I asked for the refund, not to mention when I asked them to hook up my new phone service at my new home which they never showed up to do. Also verified it every single time I called to complain about not having a phone hooked up & still paying for service at a home I didn't live at any longer. Fairpoint should just give up, it's a lost cause. They will never regain their reputation.

If they start charging extra money on the phone bills for Fairpoints legal fees, I hope all those people decides to start disconnecting their phone lines and go to cell phones. Its much better to go to cell phones like net 10, tracfone, and other cell phone companies.

Why hang on to old landline service for when you can take your phone with you.

If you want to have dependable internet, then try Time Warner or GWI and not give your money to Fairpoint.

I do not think that every phone user in the state should have to shoulder the finances on this one. I left that company because they were and still are incompetant. I have had an issue with this company since they took over. I can say that I still have a land line at my house but it is not Faripoint. If a company that delivers internet and email services can't get email fixed for its customers for weeks at a time.......well do I realy need to finish that one? They also have the worst customer service in the history of customer service. Is it just me or are they not big thikers there? Here we have one of the U.S.A.'s biggest phone companies looking to sell but they want to kept the wireless divission. Hmmmm, is that because even they know a dying horse when they see it? Soon there will be no phone company. There will be one media source like most have right now with phone, cable and internet provider all in one bundle. See the future.....be the future.

Jen they have an address to bill you don't they? :)

wheelie207 - using GWI would be great BUT they use Fairpoint Lines to bring you service and GWI is having a hard time because of Fairpoints issues. So it really wouldn't be benificial to switch to them at this time.

I got my cell phone and cable internet I dont need no stinkin Fairpoint so why should I pay a dime ?

Public Advocate Richard Davies is seeking an emergency assessment on telephone users of at least $100,000 to pay for the legal costs to represent Maine consumers in the FairPoint bankruptcy case under way in New York City.. Davies is the one looking for money. Again Maine taxpayers have no say, so how is he a public advocate in definition? The Maine public is seeing ongoing taxation/fees piled on them ongoing...Maine government and utilities are out of control. MAINE IS BROKE!!

GWI controversy owes $3M:

FairPoint says that it charges market rates for its lines but GWI refuses to pay those rates. It says a court decision from several years ago allows it to "charge market rates for the lines", rather than rates set by the Public Utilities Commission.

GWI staff attorney Eric Samp said Friday that GWI has a contract with FairPoint through March 2011 that sets out rates. FairPoint previously said GWI owed it more than $3 million,.U.S. Bankruptcy Court where it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October has jurisdiction over the claims, not the commission. The only people getting rich are the lawyers.

When everyone partakes in their local meetings and visits the state house to make sure things are being run the way they should be, then the monies that are invested by the public will be there, when and if they are needed. Until then, the well has run dry in most every sector of our government, and those who tend the tills will continue to bleed you all dry until you confront them. Most of those in government don't care about any of you, can't you see that yet?

Day after day we read the same grim news stories with the same grim endings and the resolution is the same - ATTEND YOUR TOWN/CITY MEETINGS. VISIT THE STATE HOUSE IN AUGUSTA AND WATCH OVER THOSE THAT YOU'VE ELECTED TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE DOING THEIR JOB!!

Yes, I'm getting a little off track here, but this will all tie in-

Fixing the health-care issue would be as easy as, lowering the dollar amount of the taxpayers income so that everyone would be on Medicaid, and no - I don't mean Medicare. Instead they're going to spend BILLIONS of dollars, revamping the current system and hijacking your money by charging you outrageous taxes to fulfill this glorious promise of "free" healthcare. Then, you'll be waiting for appointments for months for surgeries that you or someone in your family needs. They'll slow the system down to a near halt, while people (your family members), die needlessly. The government will continue to collect your tax dollars to "fix" the government budget, and bleed you dry once again.

You were all warned that Fairpoint couldn't make a go of this, but how many of you attended meetings or contacted your Legislators and Senators about this issue?

Now, you're being asked to help with attorney fees because there isn't enough money in the till to fight these idiots. Actually the bigger idiots are those sitting behind their computers who did nothing, why? Because more than likely, Fairpoint will win this battle. You'll be lucky if you have phone service in the end - and BTW, it won't matter if you have a landline or cell service, you'll pay!

So, before long, we'll have no phone service, poor healthcare and we'll be taxed to death. How many will attend their town/city meetings and visit the state house in Augusta then? Lazy, stupid, worthless, mindless Americans, is what most of this country is now made of. Your forefathers would be so proud of you, giving up this hard fought and beautiful country, to a communist regime.

Where have we heard this story before MIllinocket? A multinational corp. in order to divest thier interest in union contracts, and other responsibillities related to doing business, set up a shell of a company. The company goes bankrupt because the shell company never had the fiancial abbillity to sustain even the slightest expenses. The investors abscon with large sums of monies while the workers in Maine are left without jobs,health insurance. Millions paid to lawyers to defend the rights of those concerned in bankruptcy court. Severance pay to workers is but a joke. If thier were any justice the parent company which in this case is Verizon should be taxed to pay for the fraud they are continuing to pepatrate on the public. Do not kid yourself about bankrupcy court. I-nex-con declared bankrupcy in 2003. Millions for defence not a penny for serverence. By the way what do we have an Attorney General for?

Have you looked at your telecom bills lately to see all the taxes added monthly that are "in addition" to your contract? FairPoint took over what Verizon had already dumped in services expected. Government makes it difficult to do business in Maine. FairPoint has been the victim of a political and bureaucratic witch hunt since the onset. FairPoint passed its first milestone on Oct. 1 by expanding broadband to 75 percent of the state. The next benchmark the company needs to meet is 85 percent by April 2010, according to the settlement agreement. Under Verizon it was non-existent. I had a local telecom/isp with high speed Internet/bundle local and long distant. My neighbors had Verizon and non-existent dsl, other townspeople under Verizon would not have land serivce for a week plus at a time.

By 2013, no one will be on land lines anymore," a member of the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee has said.

But losing land-line customers is not unique to FairPoint. Across the country, other companies are having the same problem. Even our owne Governor has made promises that were technologically unable to be met in Maine in the near future. But consumers just knowing they want what they want when they are promised by politicians on both sides makes for a finger pointing parade. Government has hurt more than it has helped--revisit the Telecommunication Act 1996 where government decided what Telephone company or carrier owned what, auctions etc. Also note that a carrier is not a ‘telecommunications carrier’ when it is selling broadband Internet access. This distinction becomes particularly important because the act enforces specific regulations against ‘telecommunications carriers’ but not against carriers providing information services. With the convergence of telephone, cable, and internet providers, this distinction has created much controversy.

Welcome to Maine..where life is not, as it is represented to be.

If you believe this argument that goverment hurts business,and business is faultless. Well we have a machine we will sell youi.

Maybe they can get "Bailout Money" for the lawyers outragous fees. Who made the errors? Not me!!!!

Failpoint, screwing Mainers coming and going.

the name of 'FALLPOINT' = fall to the point

If you are not interested in buying a state of the art paper machine, maybe you might like a bridge.

I already pay a 911 fund on my bill each month, I think that part of his argument is lost. I don't think I should pay since I don't use fairpoint.