Fleeing Customers Haunt Phone Co. In New England

Many people lost e-mail messages, or couldn't access their e-mail for a couple of weeks. Some customers still haven't received their February bills.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission has received an estimated 1,200 calls from unhappy customers since late January.

Steve Hirshon, vice president of Maine Securities Corp. in Portland, said it's no surprise the company has been losing customers, not only because of the recent problems but because of the migration of customers to wireless phones, a trend besetting all providers of landline service.

Investors clearly don't like what they've seen.

The stock price fell 65 percent last Friday alone, the day after FairPoint reported a quarterly loss of $76.1 million and announced it was suspending its dividend. In recent days, a share of FairPoint stock has been cheaper than the cost of a call on one of its pay phones. It traded as high as $11 in the past year.

FairPoint has filed a petition with regulators in the three states seeking to defer a $11.25 million quarterly debt payment toward its purchase of Verizon's operations in northern New England. It is proposing to push back the March 31 payment to June 30.