Big Company Blues... Continued

Jeff Lee, LittleT Broadband

Thought I would post a follow up article for my rant from last week.

At this time Frontier has still not sent a crew to bury the 400’ of fiber laying across my field. Surprised? I have come to learn that I am not alone with this problem as there are many others around the County who have been in a similar situation wait 2-3 months and counting for a crew to come bury fiber on their property. I have also heard anecdotal information from Frontier technicians that the company is behind on installations by more than 700 orders.

Since I have resigned myself to a potentially long wait for getting this wrapped up, I went ahead and put my backup StarLink system on the Stand By plan. $10 a month is a much better option given the wait, and I can always change this back to a regular residential plan if something happens to the unburied fiber.

This all points to growing pains due to unforeseen demand, unforeseen circumstances, poor planning, inadequate staff, or some combination of the whole list. Would another company have handled the new demand better than Frontier? Given the typical approach of large companies to control costs, probably not. Building new broadband infrastructure across the entire County and connecting many thousands of new customers to a new system takes time, and it’s hard for those of us in the middle of the process to be patient.

I was also reminded that Frontier does indeed have a customer service telephone number. Though it does not seem to be published on the website, this number can be found on your monthly statement. Like all large companies, the number will connect you to an automated call system through which connecting to a live person takes time, persistance, and patience. The customer service info found in the Frontier statement is as follows:

For help: Customer Service at frontier.com/helpcenter, chat at frontier.com/chat,
or call us at 800-921-8101. Visually impaired/TTY customers, call 877-462-6606.

I would like to continue hearing from others about their experience with Frontier fiber installation and service.

We are also aware that Charter/Spectrum has begun construction in Macon County. If you have recently been offered or have had Charter/Spectrum internet installed, please share your experience through the contact us form.