Frontier Communications has agreed to stop charging an additional $7 per month internet infrastructure fee as part of a settlement with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Frontier also agreed to spend $42.5 million to expand fiber deployment in Connecticut, make a payment to the state, and improve customer service.
Unfortunately for most Frontier Internet users in the US, the pending settlement requires changes only in Connecticut. We asked Frontier if it would continue to charge an additional $7 per month internet infrastructure fee in other states, and we’ll update this article if we get an answer.
border Claims The $7 fee, which is not included in the advertised rates, is necessary to cover “maintenance and other costs associated with our network infrastructure and your continued access to high-speed Internet.” One might assume that the cost of network maintenance would be covered by the standard price users pay for internet service, but Frontier used the fee to raise its actual rates above the advertised rates.
The settlement with Connecticut “forces Frontier to stop collecting the $6.99 per month “internet infrastructure surcharge” that cost these customers about $84 per year additional fees and an estimated $16 million statewide last year,” Ad Tong He said yesterday.
Frontier History of Hidden Charts
Frontier does not have to refund fees to customers. The settlement requires it to provide at least $200,000 in credits or refunds to customers who have complained beginning in 2019. These refunds can cover a variety of customer issues. Frontier must also pay the state $1 million.
Frontier has a history of charging fees that are meaningless if any. as we are Written in July 2019For example, Frontier customers who used the routers they owned had to pay a $10 per month “Wi-Fi Router” fee, even if the router they used was fully compatible with the service and required no additional work on Frontier’s part. In the end, a new american law Ban broadband and TV providers from charging “rent” fees for equipment that customers provide themselves.
Despite this law, hidden broadband charges remained a big annoyance For telecom users in the United States. border raise the price of the additional cost of Internet infrastructure from $4 to $7 in early 2021.
The Colony He says that once the agreement is approved by the state Supreme Court, Frontier will not charge any new customer additional Internet infrastructure fees “or any other similarly described fees or charges.” Within 60 days of the effective date of the settlement, Frontier will have to stop charging existing customers.
Extensive investigation
The state said the settlement settled a government investigation into “whether Frontier deceived or misled consumers in marketing and selling Internet services.” The investigation by the Attorney General’s Office and Consumer Protection Department included a review of more than 1,400 consumer complaints.
“Frontier failed consumers in Connecticut,” Tong said. “DSL internet quality was slow and unreliable, customer service was unacceptable. They charged hidden fees, charged families for returned equipment, and continued to charge customers even after services were canceled. That ends now.”
State officials alleged that Frontier violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and other laws, but Frontier did not admit any error in the settlement. One of the state’s allegations is that Frontier “misrepresented the facts[ed] The nature and purpose of the additional cost of the Internet infrastructure.”
The settlement would require Frontier to spend $42.5 million over the next 3.5 years to upgrade DSL to fibre, with at least half of the upgrades to take place in economic hardship areas. Tong’s announcement said the deal would provide “more reliable internet to up to 40,000 families in need.”
The settlement also imposes “a comprehensive list of accountability measures for the next six years, including new price and billing disclosures, advertising disclosures that address company DSL representations, requirements that the company makes for promised speed or provide options to consumers who do not receive the promised speed and assurances that the company It will implement transparent and fair cancellations, return equipment, and more,” Connecticut said. The state could ask for another $6 million in fines if Frontier does not comply with the requirements.
Border problems in many countries
Frontier provides service at 25 states, down from 29 after the May 2020 sale of its Northwest US operations to an entity now known as Ziply Fiber. Ziply had to Washington State Investigation Settlement relating to Frontier’s pre-sales business practices.
Frontier also agreed to a settlement in May 2022 with the Federal Trade Commission and county attorneys in parts of Californiawhere the FTC said Frontier was “lying and charging consumers for the high-speed internet speeds it failed to deliver.”
company I came out of bankruptcy in May 2021, promising to expand fiber service after years of underinvestment. Frontier has previously faced investigations and complaints about chronic outages New YorkAnd the MinnesotaAnd the OhioAnd the West Virginia.