| Senate President Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff on Friday welcomed a proposed decision by Connecticut regulators to deny Verizon’s request for reclassification, which could have allowed the company to avoid certain state regulations as it seeks to acquire Frontier.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a proposed final decision this week to deny a petition by Verizon New York Inc. to reclassify its remaining services in Connecticut as “competitive.” If approved by regulators, Verizon would no longer be considered a public service company and thus would no longer be subject to certain consumer protection regulations.
In a September letter to PURA, Senators Looney and Duff detailed concerns that Verizon’s deregulation could deprive customers of key consumer protections, while raising questions related to the company’s obligations under its ownership interest in utility poles and its proposed purchase of Frontier. PURA cited the senators’ letter in its proposed denial of Verizon’s request.
“This preliminary decision from PURA represents a promising signal from Connecticut regulators that Verizon’s services and its efforts to acquire Frontier will continue to be subject to regulatory scrutiny,” Senator Looney said. “If finalized, this decision will ensure continued oversight of that acquisition and we urge PURA to thoroughly examine whether the purchase will genuinely serve the public’s best interests, or whether it will simply benefit the companies and their investors. Deregulation almost always entails diminished accountability and compromised safeguards for consumers.”
“Any company with an ownership interest in utility poles has an obligation to Connecticut residents — who granted them the right to erect poles on public property — and must be regulated accordingly,” Senator Duff said. “Given that reports already suggest that Verizon is failing to meet its obligations to replace double poles, this is no time to relieve the company of other critical safeguards involving public safety and outage response in the aftermath of storms.”
PURA’s final decision on the matter is expected in the coming weeks.
Although Verizon has argued that it is subject to competition and should be deregulated as a result, it is currently the only wireline provider that offers plain old telephone services (POTS) in western Greenwich.
Verizon’s service area would expand considerably if it were to successfully acquire Frontier, which is the legacy telephone provider for the entire state. Deregulating Verizon ahead of the purchase could create regulatory uncertainties related to which entity would be responsible for meeting timely reconnection obligations in the aftermath of weather events that leave residents without telephone service. |
