North Country Gazette



AG Wants Florida Verizon Fined $6.5 Million

Posted on Thursday, 15 of May , 2008 at 5:44 pm

TALLAHASSEE, FLA—The Florida Attorney General’s office has asked the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) to fine Verizon Florida LLC $6.5 million for repeated violations of service rules in Florida during 2007. 

The petition filed by the Attorney General, Florida Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, and AARP states that Verizon willfully violated the Florida Public Service Commission’s rules for telecommunications service repairs 262 times during 2007. The petition asks the Commission to establish a docket to investigate Verizon’s service quality, and requests that the company be required to show why it should not be required to pay the maximum allowable fine of $6.5 million for the 2007 violations. “We expect Florida companies that are regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission on behalf of Florida consumers to comply with the rules of the Commission,” said Attorney General Bill McCollum in filing the petition.

The FPSC rules that the company has violated require that no less that 95 percent of the reports of service outages be restored within 24 hours and that no less than 95 percent of other trouble reports be fixed within 72 hours.

The petition points to continued deterioration of Verizon’s repair performance since the last investigation of its service. That investigation resulted in a $2 million settlement in 2001 involving Verizon, the Attorney General and the Public Counsel. The petition filed today shows a steady decline in Verizon’s repair performance since 2002. In that year, the company reported less than 50 repair rule violations for the entire year, as compared to the 262 violations reported in 2007, which represents the worst performance of any year since 2001.

“Our request that Verizon be fined $6.5 million for failure to comply with the PSC repair rules should deliver a message to all Florida telecommunications companies that Florida consumers believe that service is important and that compliance with the PSC rules is essential,” said Florida Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, whose agency represents Florida utility customers. “Telecommunication companies should deliver the quality of service that consumers pay for, or face the consequences.”

“Reliable and available telephone service can be critical to consumers during emergencies,” said Mike Twomey, attorney for AARP. “Verizon’s failure to fully comply with the PSC’s repair rules necessarily extended some of its customers’ service outages, making their service less reliable and less available. Verizon should obey the rules or be penalized for its failure to comply.”

The petition may be viewed here: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7ENJF5/$file/VerizonPetitionAARP.pdf 5-15-08

Category: Business, Consumers, Florida, Government, Technology

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