First, FairPoint Communications bought out Verizon's wireline operations in northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont). Then FairPoint ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a little over a year later when it started hemorrhaging customers as its costs and rates rose, customer service quality dropped, and its income dropped with it.
Next, Frontier Communications buys out Verizon's wireline operations in the rural areas of a number of states, despite warnings it was probably getting in over its head, just as happened with FairPoint.
Now Frontier is cutting services, this time in Oregon as it shuts down the FiOS TV franchises it bought from Verizon. Frontier has been losing money on the operation because the operating costs were higher than they were led to believe. (Big surprise there...NOT.) And for those services they still offer through FiOS (Internet and VoIP), Frontier will now charge a $500 installation fee on top of the 46% rate increase it just laid upon its customers in Oregon at the first of the year.
Gee, this all sounds familiar, doesn't it?
I wonder how long it will be before Frontier ends up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, just as FairPoint did?
I'll go out on a limb and say it will be before this time next year.
