Dear Assemblyman Magee and State Senator Valesky:
Lebanon is again experiencing another phone and internet outage that Frontier is again mishandling.
One, despite multiple calls for Frontier tech support, their tech operators insisted yesterday there was no outage and that the problem was the homeowner’s and I have confirmed this with several other constituents who called. In addition, people were told the earliest a repair person could get to their residence to restore their phone or internet service or both was Thursday, August 18!
This is unacceptable in this day and age and a public safety issue.
Cell phone service is greatly restricted in my township due to it rural demographics so landlines and internet communication are crucial, especially in emergencies. Many rely on wifi and Frontier internet.
While NYSEG has a contact person who attempted to call and email me yesterday about the power outage and restoration time for the township, Frontier has no such system and from the three calls I made to Frontier yesterday and today, here are the following results:
- All insisted there was no outage and from what I can tell they were in other parts of the county with no capacity to tell what is going on in Central New York or the Southern Tier.
- One tech hung up on me when I demanded to speak to a supervisor as a Town elected official to get an update and restoration time.
- All three insisted the problem was internal (the residence location) and not with their system despite the widespread and intermittent phone and internet outages that impacted the Town Office as well as local residents.
- One tech with a very thick southern accent insisted the problem was we were in a “high demand area” – this is Lebanon, a rural township with a growing Amish population that does not use technology and everyone who does not live in the two hamlets or Craine Lake or the Reservoir does not have access to Time Warner cable and is forced to rely exclusively on Frontier who is regulated by the PSC.
- My sense is Frontier has actually cut back service and is doing less, not more and is negligent in its duties in this internet age and is doing little to breach the digital divide.
This is a problem I have been hearing from constituents about for years and it is now time that the Attorney General and the PSC investigate Frontier and its business practices and response network.
Why is it that NYSEG has a designated person who reaches out to me directly and Frontier does nothing and does not seem to even know when an outage occurs?
It is clear that they are using call centers on the cheap and it has become a public safety issue.
I thank you in advance for your follow-up on this overdue action.
Jim Goldstein, Supervisor, Town of Lebanon (Internet is still down in the hamlet a day later with no notice from Frontier when they wil be restored)
I am a Frontier customers (dsl) as well in southern Indiana. We have had a very slow connection for about 3 weeks; it feels like dial up from the 1990s. I called Frontier about it a week ago. They passed me around from person to person until my home phone lost battery power. BUT the connection improved immediately. So, what happened I don’t know. But it was more like WHAT I EXPECT WHEN PAYING them $68 dollars a month (for phone and Internet). NOW, the last two days, we have NO INTERNET, except for a bit in the early morning. What is this? Looking on the I see outage map (and the COMMENTS section) it appears we are not the only ones. Would someone please start a business that covers where Frontier covers and let us know??? You will be very rich quickly if you JUST DELIVER WHAT CUSTOMERS EXPECT!