Carlyle Bid for Verizon

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

Carlyle makes case for Verizon Hawai'i deal
Sean Hao, Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 6, 2004

Lots of good questions and quotes in this piece.

I was impressed 175 people showed up. I for one intend to attend the meeting in Kona.

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/10-6-04/op/letters
Purchase of Verizon Hawaii is bad for us

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/06/news/story6.html

[waioli kai]

Carlyle Group buyout Verizon, PUC hearing Lihu'e 7 Oct

Subject: carlyle/verizon PUC, Lihue 7 Oct 2004 hearing re: Docket # 04-0140


Regarding The Garden Island Saturday 10/9/04 headline report on Thursday evening's one hour long Public Utilities Commission hearing, it is not accurate to report that "Over 50 people turned out...", and , it is even more inaccurate to report that "Over 50 people turned out to weigh in on the proposed $1.65 billion sale of Verizon Hawaii to The Carlyle Group." PUC Commissioner Janet Kawelo and PUC Chairman Carlito Caliboso with at least two other PUC employees most certainly did not attend to "weigh in", to contribute a comment, to contribute or produce something such as an argument or comment, especially in an assertive way. Neither the hired recorder typist nor the lone reporter were there to weigh in on The Carlyle Group LLC's Paradise HoldCo, Inc. buyout of Verizon Hawaii. Including the aforementioned people there were not more than forty people attending the hearing and barely (if even) ten of those attending testified before the Commission. Bill Kennard of Carlyle LLC testified following Verizon's Joel Matsunaga, just prior to John Cole of the state's Division of Consumer Advocacy and a representative each from the IBEW union and the county's KEDB. A Verizon competitor, Pacific LightNet's Pat Bustamante testified as did two Kaua'i citizens unaffiliated with anyone else attending.

Most definitely there was not "at least 10 Kaua'i employees of Verizon" in the hearing weighing on anything other than folding metal chairs next to similarly garden party attired attendees weighing on similar seats.

At The Carlyle Group LLC website one can view the private equity global investment cabal's slogan: Global Vision. Local Insight. Just what is 'local' when the TGI reporter quotes testimony he attributes to "one local Verizon employee", then refers to Honolulu based Pacific LightNet, Inc. as "a local telephone and Internet company", while quoting Mr. Kennard saying Carlyle LLC hopes the buyout of Verizon results in a "stand-alone local company" with "local management" ? Local companies pay local property taxes to local government. In that sense GTE was not local, Verizon is not local and Carlyle LLC's proposed Hawaiian Telecom will not be local. With wires everywhere, substations, antennae and generators in neighborhoods where Kauai citizens must pay property tax, the telecoms are exempt on the reasoning that any tax they pay will be passed on to the consumer.

The same reasoning has been used for over a century now in other ways such that a reasonable person could easily be led to believe that it is the "local consumers" who are, with corporation sought PUC approval, charged enough to have not only paid for all existing assets of Verizon Hawaii (much as was the case with Kauai Electric before Kauai was saddled by KIUC with an additional $215mln plus interest bill), but paid for all corporation advertising as well. And that is before utility consumers are obliged to pay the corporation what the corporatist inclined PUC decides is 'a reasonable profit' for the corporation.

The fact that this $1.65bln Carlyle buyout of Verizon hearing by the PUC in Lihu'e coincided with the County Council's hearing on Bill #2108 property tax code amendment proposal a half mile away may explain the virtually nonexistent public attendance at the PUC hearing, or, as likely, there is a public consensus that the sale of Verizon Hawaii to Carlyle's Paradise HoldCo, Inc. is a done deal: Another rubber stamp charade best left to corporatUSt$ to stage, with 'local' consumers and taxpayers picking up the tab.

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=2160

Carlyle: Hawaiian Telcom will be based in Hawaii
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer

KAHULUI – Verizon Hawaii and The Carlyle Group made their pitch to Maui for Carlyle’s takeover of the state’s “provider of last resort” of telephone service.

Only a dozen people showed up for a Public Utilities Commission hearing Tuesday night at Maui Waena Intermediate School.

Carlyle Managing Director William Kennard explained that once the $1.6 billion transaction is completed, the new owner – to be called Hawaiian Telcom – will bring all management and other functions back to the islands, which GTE and Verizon had tended to consolidate on the Mainland.

Patrick Bustamente, president of Pacific LightNet, a competitor, welcomed the repatriation of local telephone service in one sense, because his company has sometimes “been at odds with Verizon business policies that originated on the Mainland.”

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news...54/detail.html

Public Hearings On Verizon Sale Set For Big Island

POSTED: 10:22 am HST October 16, 2004
UPDATED: 10:28 am HST October 16, 2004
HILO, Hawaii -- Big Island residents will get a chance next week to weigh in on the proposed sale of Verizon Hawaii.

The state Public Utilities Commission is soliciting comments as it considers whether to approve the sale of Verizon Hawaii to The Carlyle Group.

Hearings on the Big Island are scheduled for Tuesday at the Kealakehe Intermediate School cafeteria and Wednesday at the Hilo Intermediate School cafeteria. Both hearings start at 6 p.m.

Carlyle, a Washington-based investment firm, announced plans to buy Verizon Hawaii for $1.65 billion.

The Federal Communications Commission approved the transaction in August and the U.S. Justice Department also is reviewing the sale.

Verizon Hawaii is among the state's larger private employers and the island's main provider of telephone services.

[Miulang]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news...54/detail.html

Public Hearings On Verizon Sale Set For Big Island

POSTED: 10:22 am HST October 16, 2004
UPDATED: 10:28 am HST October 16, 2004
HILO, Hawaii -- Big Island residents will get a chance next week to weigh in on the proposed sale of Verizon Hawaii.

Well, I hope you Big Islanders have a better turnout than the hearing did on Maui. I think the Maui News said there were like 20 people at the hearing. Sad, yeah? I can't believe locals don't care about who their landline provider (and probably other types of telecommunications products) will be and ask questions about how it will impact prices and services they receive!

Miulang

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

Well I'll be going to the Kona meeting. When I come home I'll let you guys know how many people showed up.

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

I went to the Kona public hearing tonight. Two people from Pacific
LightNet spoke against the acquisition.The president of Verizon
Hawaii spoke for the acquisition. There was a representative
from The Carlyle Group who gave their spin on the acquisition.

The two people from PLNC, Pat Bustamante, and John Warta
raised some very legitimate concerns which I share also.Revolving
around Carlyle's rosy financial model it is basing its purchase on.
There was one person from the public who spoke. He welcomed
more local control of Verizon Hawaii. Overall I figure 20 people
attended the meeting.

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://www.hawaii.gov/budget/puc/dockets/comments.htm

[Konaguy]

Carlyle in talks with the state of Hawaii

http://starbulletin.com/2004/12/16/business/story1.html

The state Office of Consumer Advocacy said it needs to talk further about its concerns over the proposed sale of Verizon Hawaii before giving a formal opinion on the deal.

The agency has asked for more time to vet the sale so it can talk with the local phone carrier and its suitor, the private-equity firm Carlyle Group. Yesterday was the deadline for public input to be submitted to the state Public Utilities Commission, which is investigating whether to approve the $1.65 billion deal.

"(Carlyle) agreed to address some of our concerns in certain ways and we want to discuss how they'll do that," consumer advocate John Cole said.

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

http://www.honoluluweekly.com/feature_main.php

Q+A Pat Bustamante

Why Hawai‘i needs to question the Carlyle Group’s bid to buy Verizon

Interview by Kawehi Haug

Pat Bustamante, president and chief operating officer of Pacific LightNet Communications, is not happy with the Carlyle Group’s bid to buy out Verizon Hawaii-and, he says, not because he’s got anything to gain from churning the waters of discontent. In fact, Bustamante is pretty sure that his company stands to inherit a lot of disgruntled users should Carlyle get Hawai‘i’s only phone service provider.

The brazenly diplomatic businessman’s even, tranquil voice rises (just a touch) when he talks about how severely he believes the community-his community-will be affected by the Carlyle Group, which plans to change the company’s name to Hawaiian Telcom.

The Public Utilities Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice must approve the deal before it can proceed. Carlyle hopes to close the sale in March, but the commission will consider halting the takeover if enough people oppose it.

The Weekly spoke to Bustamante on the morning after the University of Hawai‘i’s Hamilton Library was flooded-just a few minutes after he had 40 Costco pizzas delivered to the volunteer clean-up crew.

[Miulang]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

According to the article below, Hawai'i will have to wait to get the new product offerings that are being sold on the mainland because Verizon doesn't want to invest any more money in the local telephone company with its pending sale to Carlyle and Carlyle can't invest in the new technology without going into a really deep hole.

The interesting thing pointed out in the article is what Carlyle said about holding on to its companies for "four or five years", which is not enough time for them to ramp up to offer new infrastructure products.

That "four or five years" is troublesome. It implies that if the sale to Carlyle goes through, you guys might have another new carrier by 2010. Do you feel used and at the mercy of big business? It's time for the government to step in and say something, after all, isn't basic phone service a "public" utility?

Miulang

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../bz/bz01p.html

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

That "four or five years" is troublesome. It implies that if the sale to Carlyle goes through, you guys might have another new carrier by 2010. Do you feel used and at the mercy of big business? It's time for the government to step in and say something, after all, isn't basic phone service a "public" utility?

Amen, I couldn't agree with you more. It seems we'd all better move to DHHL
land as SIC is putting in all fiber-optic network that only people on DHHL land can use.

[Miulang]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

Buried in this morning's Advertiser Business section is a little story about how Carlyle has overcome another hurdle in its efforts to buy Verizon Hawai'i:

Apparently late last year, Carlyle asked the FCC for permission to increase the percentage of foreign ownership from the 25% ceiling enacted by the Communications Act of 1934 to 47.2%. The FCC quietly approved that request last November.

Even though Carlyle swears that the foreign investors won't have any say in the day-to-day operations of the new phone company, I think it's rather alarming that the FCC is now allowing foreign investors to have an almost equal stake in the new phone company. It also poses a dangerous precedent for any other telecommunications company sale in the future.

The way I see it, it means that we will soon have foreign money buying up some of the things that we all have taken for granted are American. And is that a good thing? The only thing standing in the way of the sale now is approval by your local Utilities Commission. Carlyle says that 10% of the investment will come from within Hawai'i, but with that new 47.2% cap on foreign investment, more than likely a lot of the money will come from the EU community because the Euro is worth more than our sinking dollar is. Better learn to speak German.

Aaron, what do you think about this now?

Miulang

[Konaguy]

Re: Carlyle Bid for Verizon

Aaron, what do you think about this now?

Miulang

I'm not surprised, but I am resigned to the fact this deal will go through.
I have repeatedly said this is bad situation for Hawaii. But no one in power
is listening. They are perfectly content to allow TCG control a critical
utility like Verizon Hawaii.