FairPoint Communications plans to close its regulated landline service to new customers in five more communities, as part of a drawdown allowed in a 2016 law.
FairPoint last month asked regulators to stop requiring the company to provide price-controlled landline service to any customer who asks for it in Bath, Yarmouth, Old Orchard Beach, Westbrook and Freeport.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission will hold public meetings in each town, in September and October, to solicit public comment on the request.
In those communities and many more around the state, FairPoint is the provider of last resort, meaning it must provide basic landline service regardless of whether serving a given customer turns a profit.
[Regulated landline service to end in Maine’s biggest communities]
The company’s request comes after regulators approved similar requests in 11 other communities where they determined customers had sufficient alternatives to switch providers if they felt service quality was inadequate.
The 2016 law allowed FairPoint to request deregulation of landline service in phases. The final phase would come next, with a request in February to end its landline service obligations in Augusta, Brewer, Brunswick, Kittery and Windham.
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The law then sets a different process to remove more communities later, requiring a review to assess the level of competition and access customers have to some kind of voice service.
The Public Utilities Commission scheduled meetings on the latest request as follows, all at 6 p.m.:
—Bath, Sept. 26, City Hall Auditorium, 55 Front St.
—Yarmouth, Sept. 27, Town of Yarmouth Community Room, 200 Main St.
—Old Orchard Beach, Sept. 28, City Council chambers (third floor), 1 Portland Ave.
—Westbrook, Oct. 3, Public Services Building training room (first floor), 570 Main St.
—Freeport, Oct. 5, Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Drive.