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Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today blasted AT&T for failing for the last eight years to meet state service and repair standards, endangering public health and safety.
In comments to the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC),
Blumenthal called on the department to crack down on AT&T -- imposing monetary penalties if necessary -- compelling the company to improve service and repair operations. He blamed AT&T’s deteriorating service and repair record on repeated layoffs, leaving the company with too few employees to properly maintain its equipment.
Failure to maintain equipment also threatens electricity reliability because power lines use the same poles, he said.
Blumenthal criticized DPUC for rejecting his requests as far back as 2002 for an investigation into the impact of AT&T layoffs on repair and service standards.
“AT&T has made a mockery of minimum mandatory standards --
particularly for repairs – every year over a staggering eight straight years,” Blumenthal said. “Each year, AT&T’s performance falls further and further behind DPUC’s standards -- an unacceptable unconscionable record, requiring strong remedies.
“Working telephones provide a lifeline to medical care, police, firefighters and loved ones. They are critical to the public health and safety. Customers, emergency services and businesses all expect and demand that AT&T fulfill its obligations as a regulated public service company.
“AT&T’s downsizing its workforce by more than 1,000 jobs has caused seriously deteriorating service and response times. In October and November 2002, I wrote the DPUC three times asking it to investigate AT&T’s downsizing and failure to meet out-of-service repairs benchmark. Unfortunately, in a decision dated December 12, 2002, the DPUC denied my request.
“In the ensuing six years, AT&T has eliminated as many as 1,000
Connecticut employees -- most recently announcing its intention to move 60 repair dispatch workers from Meriden to Michigan -- even as its service has steadily eroded from its already poor 2002 levels. An investigation into a link between layoffs and deteriorating service is long overdue.
“The facts are stark and compelling. DPUC requires AT&T to repair 90% of its out-of-service lines within 24 hours of reporting. In seven years, the company has never reached 90%. In only three months did AT&T reach more than 80%; during 43 months, the results were below 60%, and for 16 months, the results were below 50%.
“Instead of expressing shame over its failure to meet its legal obligation to maintain service and protect public safety, AT&T appallingly seeks to shift and distort the standard and even to eliminate any obligation to meet a basic service quality standard.
“About 1.67 million Connecticut consumers, businesses and other
organizations -- including police, fire and ambulance services -- depend on AT&T’s phone lines. In addition, 1.5 million electric customers throughout the state rely on AT&T’s maintenance of its utility poles to ensure reliable electric service.
“Connecticut utility customers simply cannot afford to wait any longer for AT&T to improve its service. The DPUC’s service quality plan has failed. The department needs to enforce its service quality standards and impose meaningful penalties for AT&T’s continued failure to provide customers with the service they expect from a public service company.”
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