Fairpoint Takeover of Verizon’s New Hampshire Phone Lines Delayed

The Fairpoint takeover of Verizon’s phone landlines has been hung up for two months. The cutover is now planed for November of this year rather than September.

The announcement came from Fairpoint Communications after the Liberty Consulting Group (the firm charged with monitoring the transfer) found that the telecom company was not ready for the pre-set deadline to display its readiness.

Verizon sold its New England landline base to Fairpoint for around $2.5 billion earlier this year. Only at the end of March did the long-awaited deal become official. Around 1.6 million land phone lines are part of the deal. Verizon sold them to Fairpoint to focus on its wireless service and expand its high-speed internet ambitions.

Liberty stated that the company was "proceeding well and with more time FairPoint should be able to demonstrate cutover readiness."

"We believe we have made considerable progress in addressing a number of areas and have further refined the necessary and critical steps to ensure a smooth cutover," said Gene Johnson, FairPoint chairman and CEO. "We are just as confident as Liberty in our ability to cut over at the end of November."

The extension will force Fairpoint to pay Verizon over $30 million. Both stocks fell slightly after the news, but each fall was less than 1% of the previous day’s value.

Maine and Vermont are affected by the switch as well as New Hampshire.