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Update: They've gone back to work but without a contract. Maybe McAdam decided not to be so mean. db Joey Kreger of Manhattan wants to buy FiOS, but the NY Times reports Verizon can't reach him until December 30th. Craig Schiffer's investment company hasn't been able to get their phones fixed for 9 days. Verizon lost 125,000 DSL customers last quarter, which would have been a disaster if they hadn't added 189,000 new FiOS homes.

     If the net result of FiOS delays is the loss of 100,000 customers, that's half a billion dollars of NPV. A third of the board voted against approving a $120M New York City contract. In D.C., Verizon expects to get $B's in new subsidies, the discussion of which should be cancelled until a reasonable labor settlement. Billions more are at stake in the spectrum decisions, which at the moment look to be seriously slanted in favor of AT&T and Verizon.

     Lowell McAdam is proving a hard man in his first major decision. His demands - thousands of dollars of givebacks from each employee, including huge cuts in pensions and health care.- are not about good faith negotiations. They are deliberately provocative to intimidate the union.In these tough times, the union was ready to accept almost any reasonable deal.

    They might be appropriate if the company were in serious financial trouble, but actually they are doing so well they raised the dividend each of the last two years. Verizon is one of the most profitable companies in the world, with EBITDA over $10B/year.

     Verizon's LTE is the most advanced wireless network in the Western world. FiOS remains the best landline network in the West, although after the cuts others are rapidly catching up. They are one of the most profitable companies in the world, with EBITDA of over $15B.

    Lowell doesn't need to screw the people working for him to prove McAdam is macho.