PORTLAND, Maine — FairPoint Communications says Maine utility regulators did not give the company a fair shake in recommending it pay a $500,000 penalty for missing landline service quality measures.
The company has asked regulators for a chance to present evidence elaborating on earlier explanations of why it missed those quality benchmarks, saying that company officials were surprised they did not have that opportunity before regulators recommended slapping FairPoint with a $500,000 fine.
“There is no room for debate that FairPoint is entitled to present evidence through a properly noticed hearing in a proceeding where it is faced with the possibility of a significant $500,000 fine imposed by the state,” attorney William Hewett wrote in a filing Monday.
Regulators suggested the fine in response to seven quarters in which FairPoint reported missing service quality benchmarks for the price-controlled phone service it’s required to provide in much of the state, called provider-of-last-resort service.
The report stated that FairPoint was apparently prioritizing its unregulated service, such as broadband, over taking a loss for missing benchmarks for its regulated landline customers.
“While providing high-quality broadband service is important to the company’s future, it cannot ignore service quality obligations to its [provider-of-last-resort] customers,” the report stated.
FairPoint blamed, in part, a 131-day union strike and added that the quality metrics were unreasonable and unattainable. The examiner’s report urged commissioners to dismiss that argument as well.
FairPoint’s request seeks to change the next steps for the case, wherein the company would typically file its disagreements with the recommendation of staff at the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
FairPoint has argued instead that it was denied due process as guaranteed in state and federal constitutions. Regulators will now deal with that question before continuing with the case.