Frontier lied about internet speed, FTC says in post-net neutrality case

[SouthBayDem]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and several states filed a lawsuit against Frontier Communications on Wednesday, accusing them of lying about internet speeds, in one of the first cases the regulator has overseen since net neutrality rules were repealed.

In the complaint, the agency and state attorneys general said Frontier advertised internet via a digital subscriber line (DSL) at certain speeds to consumers but then failed to deliver.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The FTC was joined on the lawsuit by attorneys general from Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin. District attorneys’ offices from two California counties also joined the complaint to represent California.

A spokesperson for Frontier, which is emerging from bankruptcy protection, said that the lawsuit was “without merit.”

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/ftc-frontier-communications-speed/update-1-u-s-sues-frontier-communications-regarding-internet-speeds-filing-idUSL2N2N62E4

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Define "Lied"

I have a 300Mbps modem, and am paying for that speed to my ISP.
I have tested using their & independent speed tests and never gotten a download speed over 22Mbps.
Their excuse is local infrastructure, something something. But, it's THEIR infrastructure.
So, is it lying or is there 2 point font in the terms of agreement that says anything over 5% of advertised speed is ok?
I'm glad Frontier is getting squeezed on this, because I think it's pretty common.

[Dustlawyer]

2. Add Spectrum to that list!

[japple]

6. Ditto here with my verizon "unlimited" plan. I hope all of these companies get squeezed

for their failure to see the possibility of a bright future and high speed connection for all Americans, even those in Chicken Catcher Holler, GA who pay $300 per month for fairly good (4G) speed for 2-1/2 weeks per month, which then drops to dial-up speed for the rest of the billing cycle.

[usaf-vet]

11. Add CenturyLink they too blame the "infrastructure" for their inability to offer 21st Century speeds

Yet less than 40 miles south of our location a small CoOp telephone company managed to run fiber optics to nearly every customer.

They did it by using the federal money that was available AND INTENDED to "improve telecommunication services".

[MurrayDelph]

15. Out here on the Oregon Coast

The only options are Spectrum (a company I'd used when I was in LA) and CenturyLink: a company that, what it lacks in speed it makes up for with unreliability. I still remember a fortnight-long outage that covered twenty states that they blamed on a single controller card.

[pazzyanne]

3. Frontier is my only choice for phone and internet where I live!

We have 4 other providers within 20 miles, but I cannot subscribe to their services due to the town giving up their right to bring in other providers way when they brought Frontier in. Frontier has a contract for the infrastructure that belongs to them. I'm stuck with them. Not happy!

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Same here.

rural small town. Frontier DSL, every speed check for the last 16 years is much lower than claimed.
Alternative is broadband cable company which charges for data useage, increases rates annually, and has worse repair times than even Comcast.

What keeps us still on Frontier is no data limits/charges, so we can and do stream a lot of movies,
and cheap rates, compared to other providers nationwide.
Having a land line as well as cell is important out here due to weather emergencies.

Looks like Pres. Biden is getting the regulatory agencies back to regulating.

[pazzyanne]

5. Agree!!! nt

[NullTuples]

8. Sooo many cities in California did something similar

Four houses away from me right now can get fiber at Gigabit-plus speeds. My choices are being at the very end of a crowded Comcast line, or Frontier DSL at a whopping 1-2 Mb/s. None of the three providers have any plans for expansion or upgrades.

We have towns nearby that are split down the middle for internet access, Comcast (or Verizon, etc) on one side, AT&T on the other.

In some especially egregious cases, it was a long term contract where the city (ahem, or city council members) got "free" internet (at 2002 speeds) for 20 years in trade for granting monopolies. The whole thing stinks.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Frontier retiree here

I worked 34 years in the same area for GTE, then Verizon when GTE and Bell Atlantic merged. In 2010 Verizon sold some of its serving areas to Frontier. I worked two more years for Frontier before retiring.

I'd have to say that of the three Frontier was the worst outfit. It was basically managed by sales people as opposed to those who knew anything about communications whether it be voice or digital.

All too often people were promised a certain internet speed that was impossible to deliver because either they were too far from the central office or the systems were overloaded with subscribers.

[PurgedVoter]

9. I am one of the poor victims who only has Frontier as an option.

They lie, then lie, then lie, then lie. Never, ever trust Frontier.

[murielm99]

13. Same here.

We need to have a land line as well as cell phones in our rural area. I despise Frontier.

[rickford66]

10. We had Frontier DSL for 17 years after 5 years of dial up.

We paid for 10 MBS and they notified us in writing that we could only receive 6 MBS. In reality we never got more than 3 MBS and more often less. My neighbor's phone line runs under my property as we share the same buried copper wire. They had 6 MBS and when I inquired why not us ? I was told I didn't qualify. No other explanation. My line failed several times a year and the service people told me outright that Frontier wasn't maintaining the cable. Last year they finally ran overhead fiber optic here. We now pay for 500 MBS. Our newer devices like tablet and smartphone get 362/92 (I just checked). The older laptops get 50/50. Speeds might be better, but I have all my devices (3 laptops, tablet, phone) on WIFI all the time. When the crews were installing the fiber optic, I asked them why all of a sudden Frontier was doing it. They said Frontier was hoping to avoid anticipated upcoming lawsuits aimed at all providers. Of course these guys were out of state contractors, otherwise I wouldn't have heard that. The only down side was losing my old time copper landline. I run my modem and router off an UPS which gives me about 20 - 30 minutes phone and internet if there's a power failure. The service is fairly good now, but I have used my VERIZON hot spot when we had long power outages.

[Steelrolled]

12. I don't see the connection to net neutrality.

I don't think many reporters understand what net neutrality is.

[Buckeyeblue]

14. We've battled Frontier internet for years

I pay for the higher speed just to ensure I get minimum speeds. Crazy, I know. But good internet is vital.