Frontier Investigated Over Violations Spurred by 1,000+ Complaints

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A report filed Friday by the Minnesota Commerce Department against Frontier Communications accuses the company of failing, “to provide adequate, reliable phone and internet service” to its Minnesota customers. The report sent to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission recommends Frontier be required to refund or credit customers for service outages and unauthorized charges, hire more people to improve customer service and increase investments in infrastructure and equipment, according to KIMT-TV.

The investigation, which was authorized in 2018, looked into over 1,000 complaints and comments from customers of Frontier Communications of Minnesota, Inc., and its affiliate, Citizens Telecommunications of Minnesota, LLC. 

These companies provide landline phone and internet service to nearly 100,000 households in southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities metro area, and northeastern Minnesota.

According to the report: “Many of the issues reported by consumers show direct violations of Minnesota law and Commission rules, and indicate broad, systemic problems with Frontier’s service quality, recordkeeping, and business operations.”

The list of problems included, but is not limited to, frequent and lengthy outages and loss of access to 911 services, delays in repairing and restoring service, lack of investment in infrastructure, frequent billing errors, failure to provide refunds or credits for service outages, lack of timely, responsive customer service, and discriminatory practices, including slower repair services in rural areas.

KIMT-TV reported that Frontier Communications issued the following statement in response to the report and its criticisms: “Frontier strongly disagrees with the assertions in the Department of Commerce’s initial comments and is reviewing the Department’s filing with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Frontier and its employees work hard to provide reliable, affordable telecommunications services to approximately 90,000 customers in Minnesota, many in rural communities where no other provider will invest in providing service. Frontier recognizes we experience service issues and delays from time-to-time with some of our customers. We are an ethical company committed to our customers and the Minnesota communities we serve. We take this matter seriously and will respond appropriately before the Public Utilities Commission.”  Comments? Email Us.

January 9, 2019

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