Yes. Verizon left New Hampshire and Vermont in absolute shambles. After the Fairpoint takeover you were lucky just to have dial tone. Part of the problem was the mess Vz left them, to be fair, the other part of the problem was they really weren't prepared to handle the large expansion that buyout got them. To FP's credit they really have done quite a bit to both fix their reputation, and their operation. They are running fiber like mad around here and throughout the state, even in the most rural of areas. Most of the copper plant is in really good shape and I see their trucks maintaining it constantly. It's too bad the changeover went so poorly, they would probably have kept a lot more customers. While I may not be a big fan of FP, it really does make me sad that the world is running away from hardwired telephone service en masse. The old Bell guys built one of the most amazing and intricate systems the world had ever seen, and it is slowly falling into obsolescence around us. It really is a shame.
I find it funny that I am installing equipment older than I am (35) that still works and likely has never been repaired, yet nothing made today will be around that long. I just bought some 2500 sets from the mid to early 70's that all I had to do was replace the mounting cords some dummy cut off and give them a good cleaning (to the outside) and they worked perfectly. The only modification I had to do was take the ringer lead off of G and move to L2. A testament to the way things used to be. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if that 551c works behind my Comcast crapola, just because of how well WECO built it. It wont arrive for another week or so, but I will be sure to keep everyone posted on my progress.
