FairPoint Communications 2009 Annual Report Download - page 50

Table of Contents
following periods of volatility in their stock prices. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management's attention and
resources.

Future sales, or the availability for sale in the public market, of substantial amounts of our common stock could adversely affect the prevailing
market price of our common stock, and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities. The market price of our
common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market or the perception that these sales could
occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, may also make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital by selling equity
securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
We may issue shares of our common stock, or other securities, from time to time as consideration for future acquisitions and investments. In the
event any such acquisition or investment is significant, the number of shares of our common stock, or the number or aggregate principal amount, as the
case may be, of other securities that we may issue may in turn be significant. We may also grant registration rights covering those shares or other
securities in connection with any such acquisitions and investments.

On March 4, 2009, our board of directors voted to suspend our quarterly dividend. We currently do not expect to reinstate the payment of such
dividends. Future dividends with respect to shares of our common stock, if any, will depend on, among other things, our cash flows, cash requirements,
financial condition, contractual restrictions, provisions of applicable law and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our
ability to make dividend payments in the future is expected to be limited by the orders of the state regulatory authorities approving the Merger as
modified in connection with the Plan and the agreements governing our indebtedness.
Risks Related to Our Business

 
On January 30, 2009, we began the Cutover from Verizon's systems to our new, fully integrated systems platform. On February 9, 2009, we
began to independently operate our business on the new systems. Following the Cutover, a number of the key back-office systems, such as order entry,
order management and billing, have experienced certain functionality issues as well as issues with communication between the systems. Although we
have made measurable progress in remedying these functionality issues, a number of issues still remain. In particular, our efforts to collect unpaid bills
are hampered by a lack of systems functionality, and we have incurred significant incremental third party contractor expenses as a result of these
functionality issues, both of which have had a material impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. At this time, we
expect that the delay in cash collections and the incurrence of incremental costs will continue during 2010. In addition, these functionality related issues
may continue to have a material impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity beyond 2010, and additional issues
related to the Cutover, including the accounting error and the billing and other adjustments that necessitated the Restatement, have arisen and may
continue to arise, which could have a further negative impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
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