TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Florida's attorney general is joining consumer advocates in calling for Verizon to be fined for failing to repair phone lines quickly enough.

Attorney General Bill McCollum, the AARP, and Florida Public Counsel J.R. Kelly are asking regulators to slap the phone company with a $6.5 million fine.

They say Verizon repeatedly last year violated rules requiring that 95 percent of outages be fixed within 24 hours. They filed a complaint Thursday with the Florida Public Service Commission on the issue.

Verizon settled a similar complaint in 2001 for $2 million, and has been accused of being too slow on repairs in several other states as well.

Officials at Verizon didn't immediately return a call for comment.


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