Going Where The Money Is

Verizon’s attempt to sell its heavily regulated Vermont land based phone line business to FairPoint Communications has been in the news lately. However, nobody wants to ask the most interesting question of the deal. Why exactly is Verizon in such a hurry to exit the Vermont land-line business while simultaneously announcing its intent to buy Unicel,  Vermont's largest cell phone provider? Could it possibly be because cellular phones are not regulated the same way land lines are? I imagine its pretty difficult to respond to market forces when the Public Service Board is the gatekeeper.

Unlike the government of the state of Vermont, Verizon knows capital is mobile. If you squeeze a business in one area it will shift operations to another. This lesson plays across the spectrum of issues. For instance, consider demographics.  The wealthy are mobile the poor are not. To effect change you need a carrot because money moves too fast to hit with a stick.