THE Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission has hired an independent auditing firm to review the finances of the consortium proposing to buy Verizon’s franchise in the CNMI.
CTC at the same time lashed at the “political grandstanding” involved in the sale of Verizon.
“We won’t let politics to get in the way. We will decide based on the merits of the application filed, and not on political issues,” said J. Michael Fitzgerald, CTC vice chairman and spokesman, referring to the bickering among legislators regarding the issue.
Fitzgerald said financial capability is a critical consideration for the commission to decide whether to approve the $60 million purchase deal, along with its telecommunications business experience and other factors.
In a meeting on Thursday night, CTC approved the hiring of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to look into the consortium’s financial statements.
“After the review, what happens is that the commission will make a determination whether we think they’re financially capable or not,” said Fitzgerald.
Anthony Mosley, acting general manager of Verizon, said they support and will cooperate with CTC in the audit process.
“We believe that whatever information CTC needs to satisfy its conditions to make a public interest determination is positive. As I have stated before, this is a process that CTC is undertaking and we are supporting and cooperating with them to the full extent they require,” said Mosley.
The financial data submitted by the consortium to CTC, however, will be kept confidential.
Fitzgerald said CTC hopes to have the audit completed before the public hearings scheduled on July 22, 24 and 25 on Rota, Tinian and Saipan.
He said CTC would also look into the pending decision by the Federal Communications Commission regarding the application filed by the consortium and Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc.—a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon Communications, Inc.
Fitzgerald said CTC’s decision on the local exchange carrier is independent of the FCC’s decision, but he encourages local and federal agencies that have submitted comments to the FCC to also file comments with CTC.
“We are going to look at all those comments,” said Fitzgerald.
The Pacific Telecom consortium consists of Tan Holdings Corp., Citadel Holdings Corp. and Missouri Holdings Corp.
