Well, irrespective to me suggests that you need strong communication skills, or your technical background won't even be considered. It's not as extreme as that, at least not everywhere. If you have amazing technical skills, it can compensate for some communication skills, but it's still a disadvantage.
Note that I'm talking about professional communication. Things like explaining problems/solutions, promoting your technical views, and taking the initiative to report when there are delays.
I think that's much easier to learn than being a fascinating person to communicate with, so I'd suggests trying to work on it, if you feel it's a problem.
As for fairness, poor professional communication can cause a company to be less profitable. That's all the reason they need to not hire you. I don't know if it's fair, but it's not the time of fair that makes you entitled to it.