Conn. PURA Draft Finds Frontier Service Flubs; Verizon Seeks Deregulation

Following a Connecticut probe that discovered evidence of Frontier Communications' service-quality failures, the carrier may have to prepare additional reporting and could receive a violation notice, the state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) said in a draft decision Monday (docket 24-01-15). PURA could make a final decision July 10; exceptions to the draft are due June 25, a separate notice said. Responding to a petition from the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel, PURA investigated Frontier and found it wasn't complying with two of five Connecticut service-quality standards, the agency said. Frontier "repeatedly failed" to meet minimum standards for "maintenance appointments met" (MAM) and "out-of-service repair" (OSR), it said. During a 108-month period -- Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 13, 2023 -- Frontier failed to meet the MAM standard in 35 months and the OSR standard in 51 months, PURA found. During that period, Frontier didn't file required reports to PURA in 16 instances when the companies fell below one of the standards for three consecutive months, the agency added. In May comments, Frontier noted it performed strongly on the state’s other three service-quality standards, metrics that the carrier deemed more important (see 2405200053). However, PURA responded in the draft order, "Frontier’s compliance with three out of the five standards does not excuse the Company from completely complying with the regulations.” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Verizon filed a petition asking PURA to reclassify its remaining services as competitive and retire the company’s alternative form of regulation plan (docket 24-06-15). “Today, Verizon serves only a small sliver of the Greenwich area as the incumbent telephone company, with multiple others offering competing services in the same area that give consumers a wide range of choices,” and yet “we remain subject to outdated classifications and regulations on some of our legacy services,” the carrier said. If PURA grants the petition, Verizon said it would continue serving Connecticut customers “but under the same rules that apply to all competitive providers in the state.”