New Hampshire is putting the brakes on a decision on a $13 million contract with FairPoint Communications to provide state government with telephone and Internet service.
The Associated Press reports the state’s Executive Council has decided shelve debate over the contract due to customer complaints about the company's telephone and Internet service.
The contract was scheduled to come before the council today.
According to AP, the FairPoint contract may be taken up in January, or the council could choose to reopen the bidding process.
State regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont say service complaints from FairPoint customers have increased significantly since unionized workers went on strike in October.
The Vermont Public Service Board is conducting an investigation of the service problems.
Unions hailed the decision by the Executive Council and it may put further pressure on the company to resolve the labor dispute.
In recent weeks, Vermont’s elected officials have written to FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu, blaming the company for the impasse and calling for compromises.
In response, the company released letters from Sunu to Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and members of Congress from Vermont and Maine, charging the unions with failing to compromise.
Sunu says many of the service issues in recent weeks are due to a series of winter storms in Northern New England.
FairPoint has contracts with both Maine and Vermont to operate state E-911 services.
In addition to investigating repair delays for residential customers, the Vermont Public Service board is looking into a November failure of the E-911 system, which the company says was caused by storm-related damage and an equipment malfunction.
