PUC OKs broadband changes for FairPoint
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has updated an agreement with FairPoint Communications over the expansion of broadband networks in the state, loosening requirements for the company to build in rural areas.
The Bangor Daily News reported the PUC’s three-member board approved in 2-1 vote the new stipulation agreement for FairPoint, which PUC Chairman Tom Welch said likely means that customers in rural areas will not see broadband speeds improve as a result. Welch, who voted for the new agreement, said that it represents a better deal for the state, however, due to the inclusion of new requirements that the company must upgrade some of its central offices to increase speed for customers served in those areas.
Commissioner David Littell, who voted against the new agreement, said during hearings Tuesday the newly negotiated stipulation for FairPoint “is not in the public interest” and relaxes the transmission speed and number of lines the company is required to build.
Tim Schneider, the state’s public advocate, declined to state the amount the company will invest per the agreement, for competitive reasons, but said the deal increases the total broadband investment required in a 2008 agreement with the company.
The new agreement requires that the company make broadband service available to 85% of its existing customers by Aug. 14, 2013 and 87% by April 14, 2014. If the company doesn’t meet those goals, the paper reported, it will be required to make broadband available to 90% of its customers by May 1, 2015.
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