EDITORIAL
Verizon sale deserves open public hearing

It appears there is no legal requirement that the Public Utilities Commission hold an open public hearing on the proposed purchase of our local telephone company, Verizon Hawai'i, by the Washington-based Carlyle Group, Inc.

It's also true that there was no public hearing last time the telephone company was sold.

But the fact that a public hearing is not legally required or precedented should not be a bar to holding such a meeting, if the demand is great enough.

It should be.

While the Carlyle Group brings with it some senior officials with strong telecommunications background, the company itself is not focused on telecommunications. It is an investment group.

The strongest push for a public hearing has come from the union that represents telephone company workers.

But consumers also have an interest. Is Carlyle prepared to upgrade current equipment and facilities? Are there plans to introduce new telecommunications services? How will the regulated responsibility to provide basic and "lifeline" services be treated?

One particularly big customer, the U.S. military, also has a direct interest in hearing how this sale would work out. Like the union, the Defense Department has formally asked to be an intervenor in this case.

Now, the PUC has invited written comments on the purchase (all comments should reference Docket No. 040140), and that will be helpful.

But it should still consider an informational hearing where full, open give-and-take exchanges can occur.

If that doesn't happen, then perhaps state lawmakers should convene an informational hearing of their own.

Carlyle has said it has exciting plans for Hawai'i if this purchase goes through. It seems sensible to bring those ideas before the local residents in a structured, open setting.