FairPoint phone company files for bankruptcy

FairPoint Communications had its work cut out when it grew sixfold overnight by buying Verizon Communications' land line and Internet operations in three New England states. But the nation's credit crisis and a bungled technology transfer made the task virtually impossible. With a battered financial sheet and a tattered reputation, FairPoint filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, barely 18 months after becoming the dominant telecommunications company in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The bankruptcy filing was widely anticipated and fulfilled critics' predictions that FairPoint was taking on more than it could handle when it bought the Verizon properties for $2.3 billion. Regulators and politicians said they would look out for the interests of FairPoint's customers and workers. The regulatory boards in Maine and New Hampshire said they have hired bankruptcy specialists to help during the process. Staff members from the three states' regulatory boards planned to meet with FairPoint's management and staff on Monday. Fairpoint will try to negotiate changes to the broadband deployment requirements it agreed to in exchange for state approval of its 2008 acquisition of Verizon assets. Fairpoint's lawyers are currently examining whether or not its Chapter 11 protection from creditors might also allow the company to renegotiate regulatory requirements in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where it acquired 1.7 million access lines from Verizon.