Judge Peter Cahill issued an order Friday requiring all sides to talk next month after defendant Hawaiian Electric Industries joined plaintiffs in asking him to step in.

Letters to judge show rare common ground between opposing parties.

The threat of an imminent shutdown had loomed over the aviation businesses there for several years.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright rejected arguments from Sandwich Isles Communications and its parent company.

The Public Utilities Commission must now decide how to remedy the situation.

Updated: State regulators are set to decide Monday what penalties, if any, the company should face.

The lawsuits are part of a national campaign pitting “swarms of lawyers” against thousands of defendants.

State regulators and the governor stopped the communications company from cutting off phone and internet services over the weekend.

The company says that encouraging homesteaders to go to other service providers has driven down revenues.

The board didn’t consider wildfire mitigation in executive performance metrics.