After an exhaustive investigation into why Bell Atlantic customers in several Maine communities, Houlton in particular, had telephone service that ranged from spotty to nonexistent, the Public Utilities Commission this spring reached two conclusions: a surge in Internet use may have caused the glitches, as the company claimed; severe communications lapses within the company allowed them to persist.

A communications breakdown at a communications company would be amusingly ironic if it weren’t about to drive Jane Morrill out of business.

Her mail-order health-supply business, Morrill’s New Directions, seems to be ground zero in this attack of the electronic gremlins. While others in Houlton report significant improvements in service, Ms. Morrill’s toll-free line still slumbers. When it does ring, two or three times a day instead of the usual 50, it’s misdirected calls for Bell Atlantic’s repair department — another irony that is hardly amusing.

Certainly, Bell Atlantic did not intentionally cause these disruptions and it would be absurd to suggest that it has a personal vendetta against Jane Morrill, but the Internet excuse was always weak. The Internet did not spring up within the last year or two; it’s been the big thing for nearly a decade. The more likely cause of this telephonic ailment is merger fever.

A year ago, when the Communications Workers of America were threatening to strike Bell Atlantic, the union claimed that the company, in order to make its bottom line more attractive for the NYNEX merger, had downsized and outsourced to an excessive degree. That view was supported by the PUC’s finding that while the company’s technical side was scrambling to keep up with existing obligations, the marketing side was out adding to them.

This is especially significant now that Bell Atlantic is seeking regulatory approval for a merger with GTE. So far, the utilities commissions of some 24 of the 38 affected states have signed off on this marriage of giants, but Kentucky and Virginia have withheld their blessings, citing serious concerns about competition and service. The Maine PUC, which has yet to take up this matter and which has been commendably tough, thorough and fair so far, can have a significant voice in the Federal Communications Commission hearings.

The best part is the the PUC won’t have to launch another extensive investigation to see how well Bell Atlantic has addressed these problems. It just has to call Morrill’s New Directions and see if anybody answers.