NEW BRITAIN, CT – Today, Consumer Counsel Coleman applauded the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (“PURA”) Final Decision in Docket 24-06-15 denying Verizon’s petition for reclassification and for retirement of its alternative form of regulation plan. Reclassification of Verizon’s services would have diminished PURA’s oversight of telephone pole safety requirements and nullified critical consumer protections for customers receiving basic, essential telephone services.
“Verizon, as a public service company, must adhere to certain standards and consumer protection regulations while utilizing Connecticut’s public infrastructure. PURA correctly ruled that reclassifying Verizon’s services would have jeopardized protections, particularly our state’s most vulnerable and elderly residents. While communications companies continually strive to maintain limited state involvement in regulating business practices, my team and I are committed to defending the state’s rightful authority to safeguard consumers and ensure these critical protections remain in place," said Consumer Counsel Coleman.
The decision affirms the following consumer protections, set forth in Connecticut statutes and regulations, which the OCC argued PURA must retain key regulatory and enforcement oversight over on behalf of customers:
- Consumers have the right to receive advance notice before their telephone service is terminated for nonpayment;
- Consumers have the right to continue to receive telephone service while their bill is the subject of an active complaint;
- Consumers have the right to continue to receive telephone service if they are seriously ill and their physician has notified the telephone company of that illness;
- Consumers have the right to not have their telephone service turned off on a weekend, legal holiday, or day before a legal holiday or when the business offices of the telephone company are not open to the public;
- Consumers have the right to request a payment plan (amortization) of their past due balance in order to continue to receive telephone service while past due on the bill;
- Public Service Companies must file compliance reports with the Authority with respect to public safety and security matters, including accident and employee safety reporting, as well as reporting on the status of critical pole and wire infrastructure along the public right-of-way;
- PURA has the statutory authority over Public Service Companies to ensure that safe and reliable services are provided to protect the public and employees.
On October 11th, Verizon and Frontier jointly filed an application for Verizon’s planned acquisition of Frontier with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). Frontier, Connecticut's largest provider of regulated telephone service, is the only other Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC”) in the state. The merger will come before PURA for approval to determine the impact of the significant expansion of Verizon’s service territory as a result of a successful acquisition.
Among OCC's arguments against granting Verizon’s request for reclassification, central to OCC’s concerns, was the precedent it would set in incentivizing Frontier to file a similar petition in order to be relieved of the responsibility to comply with the obligations applicable to public service companies.
Earlier this year, following a petition for investigation filed by the OCC, PURA issued a decision and a nearly two and a half million dollar Notice of Violation fine has been proposed against Frontier Communications (The Southern New England Telephone Company d/b/a Frontier Communications) for the company’s self-reported and prolonged failure to meet the state’s Quality of Service Standards.
More information regarding today's decision can be found in OCC's brief here and PURA's final decision here.
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CONTACT:
Brooke Parker
Communications & Legislative Program Manager
brooke.parker@ct.gov
About the Office: The Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) is an independent state agency that represents the interests of consumers of Connecticut’s electric, natural gas, telecommunications, and private water companies before PURA, federal regulatory agencies, the legislature and courts. OCC’s team of attorneys, accountants, financial and policy analysts appear before PURA to argue for the most reasonable rates while expecting the best utility service possible for all customers.