Washington UTC fines Lumen $923,000 for disconnected phone lines

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) has fined CenturyLink Communications LLC, which operates as Lumen Technologies, $923,000 for involuntarily disconnecting or suspending service for about 1,000 telephone accounts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CenturyLink/Lumen is Washington's largest local telephone company, with about 650,000 residential and business lines.

Each violation is a $1,000 penalty, and 923 customers were disconnected from service from March 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021. A UTC administrative law judge stated that the disconnected services were illegal during this time period due to an emergency proclamation by Gov. Jay Inslee.

On May 29, 2020, Gov. Inslee issued emergency proclamation 20-23.2, which prohibited telecommunications service providers in Washington from disconnecting any residential customers due to nonpayment.

This fine comes on the heels of a $1.315 million penalty Washington state regulators issued against CenturyLink/Lumen last month "for its role in the December 2018 911 outage that affected all Washington state residents for more than two days."

The UTC found that CenturyLink/Lumen didn't provide a "seamless transition" while transitioning out of its 911 service contract. As a result, the UTC determined that the service providers' "actions harmed the public by failing to complete at least 13,000 911 calls during the nearly 50-hour statewide outage that began on Dec. 27, 2018."

As for the more recent $923,000 fine, CenturyLink/Lumen countered that it shouldn't be penalized as it inadvertently disconnected the 923 customers, and only a small percentage of its customers were impacted.

In response to Light Reading's request for comment, a CenturyLink/Lumen spokesperson said: "At Lumen and CenturyLink, we know our customers count on us to keep our network running. We were one of the first companies to commit to the FCC's Keep Americans Connected Pledge, and we extended our commitment to waive late fees and not disconnect residential or small business customers during those troubled times. In addition, we waived data cap enforcement and extended that beyond the required dates."

The spokesperson added that the disconnected lines were a result of an error in the billing process:

"Once the FCC pledge was fulfilled, we created extended payment options as we resumed normal operations. As a large portion of the disconnection process is automated and involves different billing systems, Washington State's extended COVID-19 moratorium posed a challenge. As a result, a small portion of our customers were disconnected in error."

Regarding the penalty amount, the UTC order stated that such violations are "both serious and harmful to the public" since the "telecommunication service is an essential service" to protecting the health and welfare of Washington residents.

While Lumen argued that it inadvertently discontinued service to 923 customers, the UTC responded that "[Lumen's arguments] … in no way alter our assessment of the impact on the businesses, households, and individuals who were deprived of their means of connecting with employers, loved ones, and emergency services during a global health crisis…"

Upon discovering that CenturyLink/Lumen had disconnected customers during the time period of Gov. Inslee's emergency proclamation, the UTC filed a complaint against the service provider on April 6, 2022.

UTC staff discovered the violations after reviewing data it requested from all telecommunications service providers after the disconnection moratorium ended. CenturyLink/Lumen has 20 days to request review by the UTC commissioners.

The UTC regulates the rates and services of telecommunications companies, natural gas and water companies, electric utilities, garbage collection services, transportation companies and more.

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