Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General Calls On DPUC To Enforce $1.1 Million Fine Against AT&T
December 3, 2010
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today called on the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) to seek swift payment of a six-month old $1.1 million fine it imposed on AT&T for failing for nearly a decade to meet DPUC’s phone line repair standards.
The DPUC imposed the fine in May, but AT&T has contested it ever since.
In an unprecedented action, AT&T this week asked the DPUC to negotiate a settlement in secret, cutting Blumenthal’s office and the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) out of the discussions. AT&T withdrew the request today in the face of strong objections from Blumenthal’s office that the request was illegal.
“AT&T’s stalling should be stopped -- and the fine enforced,” Blumenthal said. “This multibillion dollar company sought secret negotiations -- cutting out my office and the public -- to reduce its fine for failing to meet legally required service standards. We halted its concealment; and now AT&T should stop its delay in paying taxpayers the fine that it owes.
“AT&T was fined for failing consistently, year after year over a decade, to fix phone lines in a timely manner. Failure to repair lines quickly endangers public health and safety, especially seniors and the handicapped for whom a working line is literally a lifeline.”
The DPUC found in June 2009 that AT&T has failed since 2001 to obey state law requiring it to fix 90 percent of broken phone lines within 24 hours. The company failed to comply with subsequent DPUC orders to meet the standards, causing the DPUC to impose the $1.1 million fine.