Hearings at MPUC on FairPoint Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan: May 4-6th Hallowell
April 29, 2010
Augusta, Maine--The Maine Public Utilities Commission has scheduled formal hearings for May 4th-6th regarding the petition FairPoint filed in March for approval of its bankruptcy reorganization plan, and for modifications of the January 2008 Verizon-FairPoint Merger Order. “All formal parties will have the opportunity to share their views before the Commission on this Reorganization proposal,” stated Chairman Sharon Reishus. “We know this case is important to Maine ratepayers and FairPoint customers.”
The hearings will be held at the Commission’s offices at 101 Second Street in Hallowell starting at 10am on May 4th, and at 9 am each of the following days. The hearings are open to the public although they are not a forum for public input. At the hearings, witnesses for the parties in the case will be cross-examined on their previously-filed testimony, and will respond to questions from Commissioners and staff and other parties. The hearings will be streamed from the Commission website. Certain portions of the hearings will address competitively sensitive, and therefore confidential, information; for those periods, the proceedings will be closed to the public.
The FairPoint Petition includes requests that the Commission authorize a delay—from April to December 2010-- of the completion deadline for the first phase of the company’s broadband expansion project. It also requests authorization to reduce—by 3%--the percentage of lines that will be capable of carrying broadband upon completion of the five-year broadband expansion project. FairPoint also seeks relief from certain pricing restrictions for broadband and certain debt restrictions the Commission required as a condition of its approval of the 2008 Verizon-FairPoint merger.
For more information: For an agenda of the hearings, please call or email Evelyn deFrees. For further background, visit the Commission’s virtual case file through the website, www.maine.gov/mpuc and search for Docket Numbers: 2010-76, 2010-77 and 2010-78.
Contact: Evelyn deFrees, 207-287-6141 evelyn.defrees@maine.gov
