Babauta explains self to Verizon employees
Gov. Juan N. Babauta disclosed yesterday that he sent letters to all Verizon employees to explain his position on the proposed sale of the telecommunications facility from Micronesian Telecommunications Corp.
Babauta said he wants the employees to know why he has opposed the proposed acquisition of Verizon by prospective buyer Pacific Telecom Inc.
A copy of the letter was unavailable as of press time. During a press briefing, however, Babauta justified why he had sought the imposition of a $10-million performance bond on PTI should the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission approve MTC and PTI’s application for the approval of the deal.
Babauta said PTI would not want to disclose its financial statement. The CTC had earlier rejected Babauta’s bond proposal.
The governor had opposed the sale, vowing to break Verizon’s monopoly of the CNMI’s only fiber optic cable.
He had formed the First Responder Task Force—composed of at least 10 government agencies—that would tap into Homeland Security grants to diversify the CNMI’s telecommunications system.
Babauta said Verizon’s monopoly not only threatens the CNMI’s security, but has also scared away potential investors. MTC and PTI, on the other hand, claimed that Babauta’s antagonistic stance against the telecom deal paints a negative picture of the Northern Marianas to potential investors.
