User Dominokat writes me to note that Fairpoint Communications is under fire in Maine after their 911 systems malfunctioned nearly a half-dozen times over the last few months, several times for at least half an hour. According to the Portland Press Herald, "software and customer service problems" were to blame for the outages, and at least one county is redirecting 911 calls to the State police dispatch system until the problems are fixed.

I'll state the obvious and say this isn't a great start for Fairpoint, who is trying to make friends in the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont after buying Verizon's DSL and landline networks. The deal was great for Verizon, giving them a $600 million tax-write-off while eradicating more than a billion in debt. Fairpoint however went from a company with 300,000 landline customers to one with nearly 2 million in short order (and plenty of debt).

Fairpoint's first quarter earnings dropped by 34%, and the company is obviously picking up the tab for their 911 screw ups. The Press Herald also notes they're running an expensive marketing campaign in New England to, ironically in the face of 911 errors, build customer trust:I'll also note that the Press Herald says the Maine PUC didn't bother to explore Fairpoint's ability to offer 911 service before approving the deal. Fairpoint's ability to handle their new debt load while expanding the network was a major concern during the merger approval process. Customers in New England faced a lose-lose scenario: stay with a company that didn't think they were worth the effort, or migrate to one that might not survive.