Vermont’s telecommunications regulators approved a deal on Friday that officially ends an investigation into how well FairPoint Communications treats landline phone customers.
The Public Service Board issued an order saying that an agreement reached in August — just one month before FairPoint was scheduled to face four days of public hearings on a yearlong service quality investigation — was sufficient to end the investigation.
The August memorandum of understanding is between FairPoint—an Internet and traditional telephone company that serves much of northern New England—and ratepayer advocates at the Public Service Department.
The department asked the PSB to open the investigation in December 2014 to address a Thanksgiving weekend phone system outage that consequently knocked down the state’s 911 system. The investigation occurred during a labor strike that ended in February and continued through the summer of 2015.
While the service quality investigation was limited to landline customers, the most significant outcome of the approved agreement is a requirement that FairPoint improve broadband capacity. Under the agreement, FairPoint must increase downloading speeds to 10 mbps and increase uploading speeds to 1 mbps for 28,399 addresses.
FairPoint must issue more than 22,700 bill credits to customers who were without landline phone service for 24 hours or more, in accordance with a PSB regulatory rule, and prominently disclose ad bill credit policy. Under the Friday decision, the company must also file regular updates on how it’s using the federal money to improve Internet access.
“FairPoint has implemented new operations protocols that have helped us provide better customer service,” Beth Fastiggi, the Vermont president of FairPoint, said in a news release. “With our new (federal funding) commitment, we look forward to delivering higher speed broadband to even more rural locations across Vermont, enhancing our customers’ quality of life and Vermont’s economic growth.”
The main remaining point of tension between the department and FairPoint is whether the company should be held to stringent service quality standards in areas where customers can choose a competitor over FairPoint. As part of the Friday decision, the PSB agreed to start a new proceeding by mid-February to consider the issue.
“With respect to bill credits, we continue to be concerned about FairPoint’s interpretation and application of (the regulatory rule),” the decision says. “However, the Department has committed to investigate the matter further.”
Jim Porter, the director of telecommunications and connectivity at the Public Service Department, said FairPoint wants to have less stringent service quality requirements in places where, for example, a customer can get telephone service from their cable company.
“It’s not deregulation,” Porter said. “It’s a service quality metric that, I anticipate, if it gets relaxed in one area it will be increased in another area. What we want to see are service quality measures that provide an incentive for FairPoint to provide acceptable service quality.”
Fastiggi said in a news release that the “telecommunications industry has changed remarkably in the last 20 years,” so the regulatory landscape should reflect the “competitive environment.”
“I don’t think it’s the end,” Porter said of the PSB’s decision to approve the settlement. “I think it’s just the beginning of the second part of the proceeding.”
