Google has announced it will bring its fiber broadband service to four new cities — Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn., according to a report on Google’s Fiber blog.

In a familiar pattern, Google recently sent invitations to local news organizations in those four cities to attend events this week, without identifying the subject.

As with earlier similar events, the topic was the local launch of Google Fiber.

The cities were all on Google’s 2014 list for possible expansion. Those left out (for now) include Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif. Google recently told city officials in those communities it was still contemplating projects, but remain undecided for now.

After the announcements this week, it will take at least one year before Google is ready to light up the first “fiberhoods” in the cities, usually selected based on customer signups.

Google will challenge Comcast and AT&T in Georgia, Time Warner Cable and CenturyLink in North Carolina, and Comcast and AT&T in Nashville. In Atlanta, the fiber build will not only include Atlanta, but also Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, College Park, Decatur, East Point, Hapeville, Sandy Springs and Smyrna.

Google will offer unlimited gigabit broadband service for an expected $70 a month. AT&T limits U-verse customers to 250GB in Georgia and Tennessee, and Comcast has subjected both Atlanta and Nashville to its compulsory usage cap experiments, setting a monthly usage allowance at 300GB.

Time Warner Cable does not limit broadband customers in North Carolina, but the Republican-dominated state government is also hostile to community-owned broadband, making it unlikely either Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte will see public broadband competition anytime soon.

Google officials have also been reportedly sensitive to local government red tape and regulation. In Portland, the Journal reports Google has put any fiber expansion on hold there because Oregon tax-assessment rules would value Google’s property based on the value of their intangible assets, such as brand. That would cause Google’s property taxes in Oregon to soar. Until the Oregon state legislature makes it clear such rules would not apply to Google Fiber, there will be no Google Fiber in Portland.

Google has also once again shown its reluctance to consider any community or region where Verizon FiOS now provides fiber optic service. The entire northeastern United States, largely dominated by Verizon, has been “no-go” territory for Google, with no communities making it to their list for possible future expansion.

Among the collateral damage are Verizon-less communities in northern New England served by FairPoint Communications and Comcast and portions of western New York served by Frontier Communications where Time Warner Cable has overwhelming dominance with 700,000 subscribers out of 875,000 total households in the Buffalo and Rochester markets.

Wall Street continues to grumble about the Google Fiber experiment, concerned about the high cost of fiber infrastructure and the potential it will create profit-killing price wars that will cut prices for consumers but cost every competitor revenue.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSOC Charlotte Mayor Google Fiber is coming to Charlotte 1-27-15.flv[/flv]

Charlotte city manager Ron Carlee spoke exclusively to WSOC-TV’s Jenna Deery about how Charlotte won Google over to bring its fiber service to the community. Having a close working relationship between city infrastructure agencies and Google was essential, as was cutting red tape and bureaucracy. (2:10)

At least 95 percent of Vermont residents will have access to broadband by the end of today, because of a combination of private investment, public funding, and innovative service solutions for some of the state’s most rural areas.

State officials say 2012 was an important year for broadband availability in Vermont, as dominant phone company FairPoint Communications made inroads in expanding its DSL service in areas that never had access before.

In 2011, Governor Shumlin set an ambitious goal to see 100 percent of Vermont covered by broadband by the end of 2013, and the state appears on track to achieve that target in the coming year.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Ask The Governor Broadband 2-3-11.flv[/flv]

Gov. Shumlin answered questions from state residents regarding his plan to see 100% broadband coverage in Vermont by the end of 2013. (Feb. 3 2011) (3 minutes)

Vermont’s small size would seem to make it an easy target for total broadband coverage, but significant rural areas have made it unprofitable for commercial phone and cable companies to make inroads.

Comcast, the state’s largest cable operator, has not grown much geographically over the past five years. FairPoint, which took control of much of the state’s landline network from Verizon in 2008, has been compelled to achieve broadband expansion as part of an agreement that approved the sale.

Karen Marshall, who heads a state effort to expand both cell phone and broadband access in Vermont says the remaining areas without coverage will be a difficult challenge, but one that can be achieved with the help of private and public investment.

“The last 5 percent are the needle in the haystack,” Marshall told Vermont Public Radio. “They are the most far-flung, probably the most expensive and sometimes even the most physically challenging to get to.”

Wireless is often the most cost-effective solution, both for broadband and cell expansion, and Marshall suggested Vermont would use microcell technology along Vermont’s rural roadways.

“I think we will be one of the first places in the country that is deploying microcell technology for example, on the top of telephone poles or utility poles, kind of like a daisy chain,” Marshall said.

The rural Vermont Telephone Company won a $5 million state grant to cover Vermont’s southernmost counties with a combination of wireless phone and broadband service.

While areas of rural Vermont will likely have broadband access for the first time, improvements have also been available to those who already have the service.

Marshall estimated the average broadband speed in the state has increased from 5.5 to 9.7Mbps, which is above the national average.

Vermont Public Radio surveys how the state is doing meeting Gov. Shumlin’s goal to see broadband service available to every Vermonter. (December 28, 2012) (2 minutes)
You must remain on this page to hear the clip, or you can download the clip and listen later.

FairPoint Communications will introduce DSL service across 33 New Hampshire communities that either have incomplete coverage or no broadband at all.

At least 4,000 homes and businesses will gain access with financial assistance from the FCC’s Connect America fund.

FairPoint says it has invested $189 million in network infrastructure since purchasing northern New England landlines from Verizon Communications. That investment has targeted broadband improvements through fiber middle mile networks and extended DSL service with Ethernet and DSLAM equipment. The last mile installation to individual homes and businesses requires a suitable return on investment. If a provider cannot recoup expenses within a few years, those failing the test will not receive service. The Connect America Fund covers some of the investment costs, bringing rural areas closer to the return expectations providers have.

FairPoint earlier promised to reach 95 percent of New Hampshire with broadband service, with similar goals in Maine and Vermont.

FairPoint customers in larger northern New England communities can also expect eventual speed upgrades as the company continues to work on deploying next generation DSL technology.

Cable competition in the region is spotty, with Comcast and Time Warner Cable providing the bulk of service, mostly in the largest communities.

The communities slated to see DSL service (or extended service into previously unserved areas) include:

Alexandria, Barrington, Bartlett, Canterbury, Concord, Conway, Cornish, Croydon, Dorchester, Dover, Durham, Effingham, Epping, Epsom, Franklin, Gilmanton, Goffstown, Grantham, Jackson, Lee, Litchfield, Manchester, Meredith, New Hampton, Nottingham, Orange, Ossipee, Pembroke, Richmond, Sanbornton, Strafford, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro.

Burlington Telecom, the troubled publicly-owned fiber broadband network for Burlington, Vt., is working on a comeback by finally boosting its speeds well beyond what competitors FairPoint Communications and Comcast can offer residential broadband subscribers.

BT will offer residents 40/40Mbps service for $99.99 per month and 1,000/1,000Mbps service for just $50 more per month (with a 12-month contract), starting Dec. 1:

Stop the Cap! previously recommended BT consider offering faster speed packages that give subscribers a compelling reason to switch from Comcast or FairPoint. Community broadband providers with fiber optic networks need to leverage those superior networks to drive new customers to sign up, and BT certainly could use a influx of new business as it fights through its financial problems.

We strongly recommend BT consider boosting its 40/40Mbps offering to at least 100/100Mbps at the $100 price point to better compete with Comcast’s Extreme 105 tier, which offers 105/20Mbps for just $15 more per month. Pricing and speeds must be comparable with the cable competition to compel a customer to go through the hassle of changing providers, and most subscribers still don’t value higher upload speeds as much as download speeds.

BT’s gigabit offering succeeds on all counts, but it is unlikely to draw a large percentage of customers willing to pay $150 a month for residential Internet service.

Plaintiffs charge that Verizon’s spinoff deals earned millions for top executives and investment bankers, but left nothing but wreckage for employees, retirees, customers, and smaller banks duped into covering the tax-free debts that were left behind.

Verizon Communications is defending itself in a Dallas courtroom against a $9.5 billion lawsuit brought by creditors who allege the phone company fraudulently structured the spinoff of its phone directory business to Idearc in a deal that enriched Verizon while leaving the new publisher crippled with $9 billion in debt and eventual bankruptcy.

Verizon structured the spinoff of its phone book unit much the same way it has sold-off its local phone business operations in several states to Hawaiian Telcom, Frontier Communications, and FairPoint Communications — through controversial, tax free Reverse Morris Trusts. At the end of the deal, the buyers are saddled with enormous debts, eventually forcing HawTel, Idearc, and FairPoint to declare bankruptcy.

Now the creditors that took the hit over Idearc are in court alleging Verizon engineered the deal to unjustly enrich itself while sending the dying phone directory business straight into insolvency.

Werner Powers, an attorney for the creditors, said in opening statements Idearc was purposely loaded down in Verizon debt and “sent into the market to die.”

“They knew in major markets they had been suffering a double-digit decline,” Powers said to the judge in a Dallas courtroom. “They knew that was the canary in the mine shaft.”

The Association of BellTel Retirees is fighting for former Verizon employees who woke up one morning discovering their safe Verizon pension benefits had been transferred to a shaky startup that quickly went bankrupt.

But creditors are not alone suffering from a bankrupt Idearc. During the 11th hour of negotiations, Verizon quietly engineered a transfer of Verizon retirees that formerly worked for the directory unit to Idearc’s startup pension plan — a very risky proposition for the nearly 3,000 retirees who were secure with a fully funded, low risk Verizon pension plan.

Curtis Kennedy, the attorney representing the interests of the retirees, explains how it all happened:

On October 18, 2006, after conducting a very cryptic half hour meeting via telephone and reviewing a packet of Power Point presentations, the Verizon Board of Directors gave full approval for the Spin-Off transaction. A month later, on the last day to do the transaction, the retirees were thrown into the mix. Of course, no retiree had any prior knowledge, no fiduciary advocate, no legal representation, no union representation, and no say in the matter. The designated group of retirees were simply treated like obsolete telephone equipment being disposed of by Verizon.

At the proverbial “11th Hour” before the closing, Verizon EVP John Diercksen, acting as the sole director of Idearc, resigned his director position and he appointed a new set of corporate directors. The new directors hurriedly executed a resolution to ratify and approve the Spin-Off transaction. In reality, the new Idearc board had no choice but to sign off on the Spin-Off.

Wall Street investment banks JPMorgan and now defunct Bears Stearns swooped in to finance the multi-billion dollar transaction that engineered the transfer of $9.5 billion in debt to Idearc while allowing Verizon to keep more than $2 billion in valuable assets for itself, crippling Idearc from day one, as plaintiffs contend. Both investment banks quickly packaged and sold off the now-worthless loans to hundreds of other unsuspecting financial institutions, while keeping deal fees for themselves.

Investors also got blindsided. One Wall Street analyst gave this recommendation on Idearc shares to unwitting investors:

“When a corporate parent casts off a vexing unit with unpromising growth, the natural inclination is to steer clear of this forsaken offspring. But the yellow pages business Verizon Communications is spinning off may merit a second glance.”

Judge Joe Fish

It got one in bankruptcy court, eventually emerging with a new name: Supermedia.

Much of the documentation that surrounds the deal and those responsible for it have been sealed by the court. U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish has announced he will decide the case himself and turned back efforts for a jury trial.  Judge Fish has also denied repeated attempts by Verizon to have the case dismissed, although he has also ruled against creditors dismissing some of their claims.

Bloomberg News this month filed motions to unseal the record in the public interest, but the judge has yet to rule on the motion.

Verizon retirees are watching the current lawsuit between Verizon and creditors carefully. The group of former employees have brought their own lawsuit against Verizon, with some of their worst fears realized when Supermedia sent word in June they were canceling the retirees’ pension benefits.

Verizon has reportedly hired eight expert witnesses to testify on its behalf, one who will receive more than$4 million in appearance fees. Verizon has leased office space specifically for the trial near the downtown Dallas federal court building.

Many current Supermedia employees report a siege mentality at what is left of the directory publisher, with regular threats of further job cuts.