CPUC Rejects Frontier Accord, Mulls Wider Penalty Changes
California Public Utilities Commissioners all rejected a proposed settlement between Frontier Communications and the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division on possible violations associated with 2016 outage and service interruptions. Because carriers generally are “chronically failing” to meet service-quality standards, the…
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CPUC is considering and Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen would “strongly support” opening a rulemaking to review current policy of letting carriers invest in their own networks the amount of such proposed fines, Rechtschaffen told Thursday’s livestreamed meeting. The pact would have let Frontier invest $2.1 million of a proposed $2.5 million penalty, paying the state the remaining $400,000. "We have tried this reinvestment approach" twice before “and we found that Frontier investments have been patently ineffective in improving service quality,” Rechtschaffen said. The proposed decision in docket I.19-12-009, which appeared on the consent agenda, set an Oct. 6 status conference. “Recent assessments of Frontier’s reinvestment projects since 2017 show that despite millions of dollars of infrastructure reinvestment in lieu of penalties, Frontier’s ratepayers continue to experience service quality problems,” it said. The telco declined to comment. Other telecom orders OK’d Thursday by unanimous consent included a LifeLine proposal setting varying amounts of state support to replace federal support for wireline that doesn’t meet broadband minimum service standards (MSS), depending on how much the FCC phases down support (see 2109160028). The CPUC revised an earlier proposal partly to respond to public advocate concerns that customers might lose federal support if the federal Lifeline MSS increases Dec. 1 to 18 GB the same day that California sets slower standards (see 2108270049). The CPUC faced a similar situation last year, noted the revised proposal in docket R.20-02-008. Commissioners supported a CTIA-opposed item to extend a COVID-19 moratorium on phone disconnections through Dec. 31 (see 2109090015). CTIA pointed us to its earlier CPUC filings. CPUC Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Wang separately ruled Thursday in docket R.20-02-008 to extend through Dec. 31 the temporary suspension of state LifeLine renewals and de-enrollments for non-usage and the three-month documentation rule for demonstrating income-based qualification.