Qwest, SkyWi in Duel over Erroneous Cutoff
Qwest cut off SkyWi services to users in Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Artesia, N.M., Wednesday, in what Qwest called an “inadvertent” violation of two decrees by the state Public Regulatory Commission. On Dec. 31, the commission told Qwest to restore SkyWi service that the carrier had cut off the day before, and to suspend any disconnections until a federal court rules on a SkyWi injunction request. A decision on the request, part of a SkyWi antitrust suit against Qwest, is set for Feb. 11, SkyWi said. Qwest also signed a commission stipulation agreeing it would give 10 days’ notice of intent to cut off SkyWi customers (CD Jan 24 p11).
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A “disturbing pattern” marks Qwest’s interactions with SkyWi and other small ISPs, New Mexico Assistant Attorney General Brian Harris said. “Unfortunately, consumers get caught in the middle,” he told us Thursday. “If the incumbent ILEC and the smaller companies can’t figure out how to do business without cutoffs, something is broken in the way the market works.” A May 2008 report Harris sent the commission criticized Qwest and other ILECs for their treatment of ISPs in New Mexico and other states. Author Fred Goldstein cited slamming of broadband customers, improper threats to shut down service, monthly bills exceeding 5,000 pages, billing errors “consistently” favoring the ILEC, arbitrary termination liability fees and “an enduring ‘run-around’ when the small business tries to solve the problem with the ILEC.”
Wednesday’s 8 a.m. cutoff involved 200 lines. A SkyWi written statement released at the time said “thousands” of people were affected. “In our communications yesterday with Qwest, we learned that about 12 disconnect orders [dating to the Dec. 30 cutoff] had slipped through the cracks,” New Mexico commission Chairman Sandy Jones told us. “Two of the 12 were activated yesterday, affecting 200 customer lines. The other 10 orders have been scrubbed. Clearly this was a violation of our order, but service was restored.”
Word of the “inadvertent” cutoff reached Qwest at 9 a.m. Wednesday, spokesman Mark Molzen told us. “Those 200 phone- only customers were down for less than two hours and all were back up by 11 a.m.,” he said. “We verified that restoration with SkyWi.” Molzen confirmed that the latest cutoff resulted from plans made for the Dec. 30 action. SkyWi “is racking up” Qwest bills at the rate of $60,000 a week, Molzen said. “They are, of course, past due.”
SkyWi and Qwest have been trading jabs since fall. Qwest calls SkyWi a deadbeat, citing millions in overdue payments. SkyWi says Qwest is scheming illegally to destroy it. “This is just one example of their monopolistic powers and predatory practices which SkyWi hopes to remedy in our Federal lawsuit against Qwest,” SkyWi CEO Allen Witters said.
On Monday, Albuquerque U.S. Court Judge William Johnson rebuffed a Qwest move to hear the SkyWi injunction request before Feb. 11. Witters called the latest cutoff “additional retaliation toward SkyWi” for its suit. “This is just like December 30, 2008, when Qwest first retaliated against us,” he said. “Qwest takes away our communication capabilities to make us look bad to our customers and to the public.” The shutdown caught SkyWi off-guard, the company said. “Since this cutoff affects the primary communication methods of Internet and phone service, SkyWi’s Customer Service team cannot reach its customers.”
SkyWi is “Qwest-proofing” itself so the ongoing conflict doesn’t discomfit users, it said. As occurred in the Dec. 30 cutoff, when service went down Wednesday morning, schools, hospitals and public safety entities again had no service, the company said.