Office of Consumer Counsel seeks PURA probe of Frontier Communications

Connecticut’s Office of Consumer Counsel has filed a petition with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to investigate Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FYBR) over its compliance with the state’s Quality of Service standards.

The Consumer Counsel stated that telecommunications providers are required to file semi-annual Quality of Service reports outlining their performance on a six-month basis in five categories: Trouble Reports Per Hundred Lines, Maintenance Appointments Met, Installation Appointments Met, Installation Interval, and Out of Service Repair. These categories, in turn, are measured on both a statewide and submarket basis.

Frontier is being accused of both falling short of the standards and failing to file exception reports explaining their failures and including a timeline for improvement. The company is being cited for 16 reporting periods from January 2015 through June 2023.

“Quality of Service standards exist to protect families, individuals and businesses from situations that put them at risk,” said Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman. “When a company that operates using the public right-of-way – that is the critical infrastructure along our streets and highways – fails to meet these standards, it is detrimental to the public’s safety, health, and welfare. My office has a statutory responsibility to represent the interests of Connecticut’s telecommunications consumers, and after monitoring the company’s own compliance filings, we have taken a necessary step in filing a petition with PURA to investigate our findings, while giving the company the opportunity to take action to address these shortcomings, and to ensure that the Quality of Service standards are met by Frontier moving forward.”

Frontier announced it was relocating its headquarters from Norwalk to Dallas last September, although it will still retain a corporate presence in Connecticut.