Backlog of Verizon orders cause significant installation delays

As of January 12, 2011
Due to a significant backlog of orders at Verizon, all Firm Order Commitment (FOC) dates requested within the Verizon territory will experience significantly extended intervals.

This situation affects all CLEC’s, wholesale carriers and retail customers with orders through Verizon. The normal FOC interval duration for orders is now expected to be at least four weeks, pushing FOC dates into February and possibly March.

In order to reduce the number of backlog order currently in its system, Verizon is taking the following actions:

· No expedites will be accepted until the backlog is resolved

· Orders in the backlog will be Verizon’s singular focus, resulting in new CLEC or Verizon orders getting FOC dates in February and possibly March

· Exceptions can only be approved by Verizon at the SVP level.

Verizon’s target for resolving this issue and being back to normal operations is April 1.

Please factor this information into timelines dependant upon Verizon or CLEC T-1 connectivity. Moves, adds and changes may also be impacted.

Merger and Acquisition Activity in the Telecom Arena

The CenturyLink-Qwest Communications deal passed a key regulatory hurdle this week, gaining support from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and after the companies agreed to invest at least $80 million in broadband infrastructure in Washington over the next five years, as well as freeze basic residential telephone prices for three years.

One Communications has been purchased by Earth Link. The merger has not completed as of this date.

Paetec has successfully purchased Cavalier Telecom. They deal was finalized at the final quarter of 2010.