By RUSTY MARKS
The State Journal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials with Frontier Communications have told West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey they have increased internet speeds for almost 10,000 customers in the wake of a $160 million court settlement.
Frontier entered into an agreement with the Attorney General’s Office in December 2015 following two years of complaints from customers who were paying extra for high speed internet services that they were not getting. Frontier advertised download speeds of up to 6 Mbps, but customers were frequently obtaining speeds of 1.4 Mbps or lower.
The settlement required Frontier to invest $150 million in upgrades on top of the $180 million the company had already planned to spend on upgrades through federal programs.
Frontier officials told Morrisey they have made about $72.6 million so far in capital expenditures related to the settlement and have now improved download speeds for more than 9,900 customers.
“My office continues to closely monitor Frontier’s compliance with our settlement,” Morrisey said. “This agreement improves connectivity for thousands in West Virginia. It’s also crucial to helping the state compete in this ever evolving world of digital technology.”
Part of the bill also would have prevented Frontier and other companies from advertising unrealistic internet download speeds of “up to” a certain rate and would have required providers to advertise actual download speeds. That provision was removed from the legislation in the West Virginia Senate.
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