AUGUSTA, Maine — A state appeals panel for the second time this year has reversed a Maine Public Utilities Commission decision to award FairPoint Communications a $32 million contract to replace the state’s emergency 911 system with an upgraded, Internet-based system for emergency calls.
The specially appointed appeals panel overturned the award following five days of hearings this fall where attorneys for Intrado and Oxford Networks — two communications companies that also submitted bids for the so-called NextGen 911 contract — accused the PUC of violating the law and the terms of its own request for bids when the agency chose FairPoint.
In a 12-page decision issued last week, the three-member appeals panel didn’t accept all the arguments made by Intrado and Oxford Networks, but the panel concluded that the PUC team that scored the contract bids failed to consider a key requirement in the agency’s request for proposals: the ability for each bidder to meet the state’s desired timeline for the project.
The company that ultimately secures the NextGen 911 contract will be charged with upgrading the state’s emergency 911 system to an Internet-based system that allows dispatchers to accept and pinpoint the location of emergency notifications that come by phone, text message, notification services such as OnStar, and other devices.
The state’s current 911 system can accept only phone calls. The state contract for that system, which is held by FairPoint, expires in October 2013.
It’s unclear what happens next as the state looks to upgrade its emergency 911 system, though the decision can be appealed in court.
“We’re trying to sort out what the best way to move forward is, and we hope to know that within a week,” said Paulina Collins, a PUC attorney and the commission’s legislative liaison.
A spokeswoman for FairPoint said the company is still reviewing the appeals panel decision and is considering its next move.
The PUC originally sought to have the NextGen 911 system in place by August 2013 when it initially chose FairPoint for the contract in January. That timeline became unrealistic, however, when Intrado and Oxford Networks appealed the PUC’s initial award to FairPoint and a different appeals panel invalidated that award, concluding there were irregularities in the scoring process and violations of Maine bidding law.
After the first appeals panel threw out the initial PUC award to FairPoint, the commission decided against issuing a new request for bids. Instead, the PUC convened a new review team and rescored the existing nine proposals from the first round.
FairPoint bid $32.4 million for the project while Intrado bid $27.8 million and Oxford bid $24.9 million.
During the appeal hearings this fall, attorneys for Colorado-based Intrado and Lewiston-based Oxford Networks argued that the PUC was wrong to simply rescore existing proposals. Some of the information in the proposals could have changed and become invalid over time, they said.
The second appeals panel rejected that argument, but decided that the PUC review team should have considered the proposed timelines each bidder submitted even though the original August 2013 deadline was unrealistic.
“After recognizing that none of the bidders could meet the August 2013 migration deadline, the Team could have reviewed the proposals with the understanding that the August 2013 deadline would change and that the timelines in the proposals would be shifted accordingly,” the appeals panel wrote.
Intrado’s senior vice president for regulatory and government affairs, Craig Donaldson, praised the appeals panel for its decision.
“We are hopeful that the MPUC will consider a fresh start by reaching out to the public safety community for their input in designing Maine’s Next Generation 911 system and introducing new life-saving services that are right for Maine,” Donaldson said in a statement.
Mike Tompkins, Oxford’s executive vice president for operations, said he was also pleased with the appeals panel decision.
“It is important to us that the review process is thorough, fair and consistent and we are confident that everyone’s efforts in this process will result in achieving those goals,” he said.
Going once…. Going twice …
Sold !! To the highest bidder , Fairpoint.
Oooops , wait a minute , cancel that.
Faulty data , software glitch , brother – in – law on
the selection committee , etc, etc …….
Please stand by.
Press 1 for english …
press 2 for ……
I agree the whole mess out to bid. Picking the highest bidder makes sense especially after all the problems Fairpoint had with 911 system few years back. $10 million is quite a spread too. I thought the state robbed all the money in the fund to balance the budget so how do they fund this.
This attempt by the PUC to reward Fairpoint, a three time failed company, with the highest bid stinks to the hilt. What the? The object of the bidding system is to pick the lowest bid. Is it not? The other two companies are great telecommunications companies. They would be very capable and arguably better than Failpoint. Failpoint was twice bankrupt. A tremendous amount of data was presented to the PUC, most advising them not to approve the sale from Verizon in 2008. The PUC slurped up Verizon’s speil, and loved that taste. Less than a year after the sale………Bankrupt again. Something is really fishy about the PUC and Fairpoint and Verizon. They had the power to compell Verizon to stay. Verizon would have had to spread Fios at that point, even though Maine is a relatively rural state. Verizon could not have bled red forever. They are a public company and they have to account to the shareholders. Wherever Fios, (Fiber Optic Service, voice/data/video), is employed, the incumbant cable tv companies lower their price dramaticly. The PUCs job is to account to the citizens of Maine. The PUC is supposed to protect Mainers from paying too much. Now Time Warner, Cox, Comcast, and others with the triple play can run roughshod over Fairpoint. Thanks to the PUC, we are paying more for our internet, phone, and tv services in Maine. All Fairpoint can offer is crappy, hum-on-the-line, staticy, hears-others-on-line landlines, (like the horse and buggy dying out to the car, cellphones are taking over), and crappy dsl. Without Fios, Verizon would have been hemoraging red ink too. You can not compete successfully with the triple play. The PUC knew this in 2007/2008. Their own State of Maine Public Advacate’s office warned them not to make the sale. I can not say that they are being paid off, but………..why do they keep making these extremely bad choices, when even their own state advacate tells them not to? Why do we have the state Advacates office, if the PUC is going to ignore them? Thank you PUC for your fine services and making us pay more for our phone, internet, and tv services. (sarcasm detected)
Picking the lowest bid is not always in the best interest of the State. I like GWI better, Yet the best product is the best value no matter what the cost.