[T]he Public Utility Commission has opened an investigation into Consolidated Communications, the state’s largest landline phone provider, after service quality complaints against the company’s phone and internet service began mounting this year.
The Department of Public Service, which for weeks had been contemplating an investigation into Consolidated, ultimately requested that the commission begin a probe of the utility this month.
In its petition for an investigation filed on Sept. 19, the Department of Public Service states that between July and September, it received 143 complaints from Consolidated customers because of the utility’s delayed responses to service outages — a 2760 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
“I think what we’re hearing the most about is time to repair issues has just gone through the roof, and meeting their appointments. Both installations and repairs,” Jim Porter, the director of the Public Advocacy Division at the Department of Public Service, said Monday.
For some customers in rural areas, Consolidated, which merged with Fairpoint Communications last year, is the only available source of phone and internet service.
In many cases the utility has been telling customers it will take 10 days or more to restore service, according to DPS officials.
“This becomes much more serious for a lot of their customers because they don’t have another landline option,” Porter said.
Although the utility has frequently been beating its own projected response times, between April and June, Consolidated was only clearing 26 percent of residential service problems within 24 hours, DPS’s petition document states.
Consolidated told VTDigger in August that heavy workloads, storms, roadwork and construction were prompting delays.
On Monday, the utility said improving service and repair levels in Vermont is its “highest priority” and that in the last month, the number of customers awaiting installations or repairs decreased by 40 percent.
“Our intent is to see improved service and repair levels across all areas of the state within the next few weeks,” Michael Shultz, the utility’s vice president of regulatory and public policy, said in an emailed statement.
On Sept. 26, the PUC approved DPS’s request for an investigation.
Going forward, the state’s investigation into the utility will focus on determining the source of the company’s service woes and will likely involve hiring an outside expert, according to Porter.
The investigation will also determine whether the state should level any penalties against the utility.
