CenturyLink seeks to ease Minnesota landline repair rules

Telecommunications company CenturyLink has asked Minnesota utility regulators to ease a decades-old rule that requires it to give priority for repairs to landline customers.

CenturyLink says the requirement is obsolete in an era dominated by broadband communications.

CenturyLink is both the largest provider of copper landline phone service in Minnesota and one of the few companies still serving that segment.

It petitioned the state’s Public Utilities Commission this week to bring its rules up to date, saying customer choices and demands have changed dramatically since the old rules were adopted in the 1980s, before the debut of handheld cellphones on the market.