You will find a range of service quality information for those telephone companies with more than 1,000 local access lines.   This information is a tool in assessing the performance of telephone companies. The site will enable you to compare how promptly the various companies provide new or changed service, respond to trouble reports from customers and how fast they answer customer calls at their repair centers and business offices. 

When reviewing the charts, look for color.  If a category shows up in yellow, the company is in violation of the Commission standard for that particular category.  You may find it helpful to first review the service quality report explanations at http://www.oregon.gov/PUC/telecom/squality/explanation.shtml in order to gain a better understanding of the terminology.

The Commission collects data from all telephone companies, with the exception of cooperative (i.e., member-owned) telecommunications carriers, that have more than 1,000 local access lines. A carrier that has met all service quality rules for a minimum of one year can petition the PUC for exemption from service quality reporting requirements. A list of all companies that report service quality information can be found at http://www.oregon.gov/PUC/telecom/squality/poc.shtml.  Those companies that have over 1,000 local access lines but are exempt from reporting are appropriately marked.

Each telecommunications carrier is required to report to the Commission its monthly service quality results within 45 days after the end of the reporting month. For instance, August data must reach the Commission no later than October 15th. The PUC Engineering Staff analyzes the data and generates summary charts and graphs for internal and public view. Those graphics are then sent to our information systems personnel for posting on the PUC website. Every attempt is to put this data up on the web as soon as possible.

If you desire to read the Commission’s service quality standards in their entirety, they are published in the Oregon Administrative Rules as OAR 860-023-0055 for telecommunications companies with 50,000 or more access lines (Qwest, Verizon, CenturyTel and Sprint), OAR 860-034-0390 for the telecommunications companies with fewer than 50,000 access lines, and OAR 860-032-0012  for competitive telecommunications providers.  The law on which these standards are based is ORS 759.450. 

Points of contact for the PUC and the individual telecommunications carriers are available to answer your questions.  These points of contact are NOT able to accept complaints.  Please follow the normal complaint procedures by calling your telecommunications carrier first through its normal repair service number and any additional company complaint escalation process.  If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Commission’s Consumer Services Division at puc.consumer@state.or.us, or call (within Oregon) 1-800-522-2404, or 503-378-6600 if in the Salem area. Consumer complaint procedures can be found at http://www.oregon.gov/PUC/consumer/comppro.shtml.