AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Public Utilities Commission has voted to maintain exemptions that allow five rural telephone carriers to keep their systems closed to competitors.
The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to uphold the exemption for Unitel, Oxford and Oxford West telephone companies, while a majority voted to maintain the exemption for the Lincolnville and Tidewater telephone companies.
The exemptions allow small telephone companies to avoid the cost of opening their systems to competitors. In this case, Time Warner, through County Roads Communications, wanted to negotiate with the carriers for system access to provide digital phone service.
Chairwoman Sharon Reishus says the decision came down to an analysis of the financial ability of the rural companies to withstand market competition.