FairPoint faces more troubles in Maine

Just as FairPoint realigns its management house to resolve ongoing issues with the New England properties it bought off of Verizon, FairPoint is once again facing problems in Maine. This week the Maine Public Utility Commission (PUC) mandated the service provider pay $400,000 in penalties because of poor service to other local service providers. Then, the PUC extended a deadline that would enable FairPoint to apply for a waiver that would enable them to avoid paying another $1 million penalty. Although FairPoint accepts responsibility for these ongoing issues, the service provider asked the PUC in June to not require it to pay the $1 million it owes other local service providers in New England.

To date, FairPoint says it owes about $2.8 million to other local competitive service providers in its new Northern New England territory stemming from issues from February through June. FairPoint cited "extraordinary and unprecedented" issues in taking over Verizon's lines as justification to have the PUC waive the $1 million in penalties. To get to the bottom of FairPoint's issues, Maine PUC Commissioner Jack Cashman said he would like to have an outside expert audit FairPoint's systems.

Maine is just one of the New England states where FairPoint has run into trouble. Two weeks ago the Vermont Department of Public Service began an investigation into whether the state should allow the service provide to continue operating there if its ongoing issues aren't resolved.

For more:
- The Kennebec Journal has this article

Related articles
FairPoint's Vermont network problems continue to swell
FairPoint makes executive changes to rectify issues
FairPoint ready to flip the switch in Northern New England