After going to see my family before the BRC I realized that I need to be closer to them... they're not getting any younger and, not being attached or having children, this is the time to make the move.  I'm giving myself until next spring to make the move so I will have enough time to finish/sell my house and find a good job.  This is where I need y'all's help.

My family lives in Louisville, Kentucky.  I am looking to move to within 4-5 hours (or less) of Louisville.  I need to know what are the incumbent telephone companies and which are the most successful and stable new ones in the states surrounding Kentucky.  

I currently work as a Central Office Technician for Verizon working on switch translations, AIN and LNP troubleshooting and providing test assists for outside techs.  My training is on the 5ESS, 1A, DMS 10, DMS 100 and Siemens switches.  

Any help or information is greatly appreciated!    

Unfortunately, I don't have any information of the kind you're looking for, but I just want to wish you luck in your search. This is a brutally tough job market in the telecom sector, with no real prospects for improvement, from what I've heard, until 2Q or 3Q03.

I hope you prove me wrong, MM!

You have perfect qualifications for where I work - AT&T - but you would have to come to Baltimore. Oh yeah, and we'd have to be hiring.
Hiring freezes suck.

Why don't you get a transfer to Verizon right here in Knoxville? We're about 4 hours from Louisville and I'll let you drive my Carrera to the range once a week.

think it over.

M_M,
the bad telecom bullshit generally does not apply to the RBOC's or ILEC's you're likely to be working with.  I'm believing that only few companies such as Qwest are suspect.  Most ILEC's and RBOC's are disgustingly profitable.
I would be careful of most CLEC's.



For any who care and don't already know:

RBOC:  Regional Bell Operating Company
ILEC:  Independent Local Exchange Carrier  (Some times called Incumbent Local..........)
CLEC:  Competitive Local Exchange Carrier

I'm very aware of the flux in the telecom market, but I agree with 5sublr5.... it's not as bad as people say.  

That's also why I'm giving myself basically a year to look around and also a large geographical radius to increase my prospects.

Tennessee is a possibility.... I'll check it out. [;)]

[url]http://www.broadwing.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.level3.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.northcom.com/[/url]
[url]http://trc.louisville.edu[/url]
[url]http://www.unidial.com[/url]
[url]http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2002/05/27/list.html[/url]
[url]http://www.cinergycom.com/wps-html/Home/[/url]
[url]http://www.enterpriselouisville.com/fc_QCI.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.uslec.com/press/083100.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.thinkwestkentucky.com/business/utilities/telecommunications/[/url]
[url]http://www.omnicom.com/[/url]
[url]http://www.bellsouth.com/community/ky/bscomm_kyecon_tel_partner.html[/url]

You might consider adding the cellular and PCS carriers to your job search as well.  They use much of the same switching and network equipment that the wireline companies use.

Every telecom concern has laid off people recently, not just the more unstable CLECs. Verizon is in the process of shedding people. SBC has eliminated nearly all contract positions and has laid off full time people.

I've been laid off since February. Do you think I wouldn't have called former customers of mine who offered me jobs when I was with Nortel during the boom years to see if those offers were still viable? I'm not talking about Bubba's Screen Door and Dialtone Company here: Sprint, Sprint LD, SBC, Focal, AT&T, Verizon, Bell South...stop me if any of these sound familiar.

My previous comment wasn't on the suspect financial gymnastics of the major players. I doubt that many out there would be stupid enough to play games like Worldcom did. It's just that there is a glut of talent out there in what's basically a buyer's market.

You could consider a position working for a company that supports the telecom industry...

I was working for TYCO Electronics, HUB Mfg div. until being laid-off in Jan...

We built the surface and aerial cabinets you folks at Verizon were using...

I wouldn't recommend TYCO, but it's something to consider...