State Vs Fairpoint

From WMUR.com:
"Law prevents state officials from addressing FairPoint issues"

The strike at FairPoint is dragging on into its fifth month with no sign of resolution. New Hampshire customers have dealt with service delays, and are increasingly fed up and looking for answers.

Bill Taylor is a FairPoint customer and has been living a telephone nightmare. "We were without any dial tone on the phone for five weeks,” said Taylor. Since service was restored, he said not only is the reception fuzzy, but he often gets calls intended for another home. The Taylor family still hasn't been able to figure out where the errant calls are supposed to be going, so he's frequently calling FairPoint using his cellphone. "The people that you call … they say one thing and do nothing. I've had people tell me we will be there on Monday, and Monday comes and goes and it's nothing,” Taylor said. “I feel like we're alone on an island. I want a working phone. I need it desperately for my business. I live and die by my phone.” Taylor would switch to a competitor, if he could, but there's no other provider in his Peterborough neighborhood. In addition, Taylor no longer has standing to file a formal complaint with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. The law changed in 2012. "It was a pretty major shift. It essentially took our regulatory oversight away for retail telecom services in New Hampshire,” said Anne Ross, of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. Ross said the only telecom customers protected under state law are those with the most basic service. "Which is dial tone. No vertical features, such as call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail. If you take that very basic service, there is the ability still remaining to call up the commission and have the commission tell the company that it has to provide a dial tone." Competing against unregulated providers like Comcast, FairPoint was at a disadvantage, so the Legislature approved deregulation to level the playing field.

But where there is no competition for telephone services, Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern said consumers lost rights and gained nothing in return. “The reality is for a lot of people, especially in rural parts of the state, having a working phone line is almost as important to them as having electricity or running water,” said Van Ostern. Seeking public accountability for FairPoint, Van Ostern recently pushed the company to agree to public hearings around the state to address ongoing service issues. “So if folks have concerns they can show up, raise questions, demand answers. I think that's a healthy step and FairPoint, to its credit, says it wants to hear from its customers,” said Van Ostern. FairPoint Communications turned down several requests for a comment on this story, citing a media blackout due to contract negotiations with its striking unions. The PUC said it still processes complaints from all telecom customers, even if they don't have legal standing. Anyone with issues can call the PUC at 1-800-582-3793.

^ At least I know I'm not the only customer having problems with Fairpoint. It is very stupid that in the areas where there is no competition (ie a monopoly) Fairpoint and any other company should be held accountable. I don't get cell service on my mountain and so my landline is my lifeline. Luckily, the landline still works - knock on wood - and we have Internet from another company. ^

http://www.wmur.com/special-reports/law-prevents-state-officials-from-addressing-fairpoint-issues/31285192