An FTC lawsuit says Frontier lied about Internet speeds
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Federal Trade Commission and officials of the six states sued Frontier Communications On Wednesday, that is telecommunications the provider misrepresented the speed of the internet and charged many customers for the higher speed it actually provided or was able to deliver.
The complaint The FTC and the FTC and chief prosecutors in Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin filed it in Central California Court. Customers living in California are represented in the lawsuit by neighbors in Los Angeles County and Riverside County.
The lawsuit is about the announced speeds of DSL, which Frontier offers in places that have not been upgraded to the fiber house it offers on copper lines. His main reason was that Frontier did not invest enough in fiber failure in the first year. Frontier provides headquarters-based DSL Internet service to about 1.3 million consumers in 25 million states.
The inherent limitations of DSL on the copper line mean that the speed is slower for customers who live farther from the nearest fiber node. According to a consultant’s investigation, the lawsuit said they would receive a slower speed than almost 30% of Frontier’s DSL customers would pay:
In early 2019, a management consulting firm, led by Frontier and with the participation of Frontier, was analyzing Frontier’s proprietary network data and internal records for now 1.5 million DSL subscribers. According to this analysis, approximately 440,000 of Frontier DSL subscribers, or nearly 30% of the population surveyed, were “potentially” “sold” at speed levels that exceeded the speed provided by Frontier.
The FTC lawsuit alleges that Frontier often set speeds lower than customers paid, saying ISP “Consumers provided slower speeds than subscriber DSL Internet service levels.” Providing low speed is usually done due to the actual limitations of the network. But the supply sets an upper speed limit, so customers can’t get more than they supply, even in cases where the network technically says an ISP is selling at higher speeds.
Frontier’s slow speed caused numerous customer complaints. “At least since January 2015, thousands of consumers have complained that Frontier and government agencies did not provide DSL Internet service at the prescribed speed,” the FTC said in the lawsuit. “Many consumers have complained that the slow speed provided by Frontier does not support the online activities that should be done at the speed levels sold by Frontier.”
Frontier violated the FTC Law’s unfair business practices and prohibitions on fraud by misrepresenting DSL Internet speed and using inappropriate billing. consumers, “the lawsuit said. The lawsuit also alleges a violation of state laws to protect consumers in Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
The FTC called for a final order to prevent future violations of the FTC law and to provide subsidies. Officials in the six states demanded claims, civil penalties and refunds for consumers. The FTC vote that allowed the lawsuit was 4 to 0; The FTC currently brings together two Democrats and two Republicans as commissioners.
Frontier said the lawsuit was “unfounded,” the document said, adding that its “DSL Internet speed has been clearly articulated, defined and described in the company’s marketing materials and information.”
“The plaintiff’s complaint includes unfounded allegations, outweighs the financial harm that Frontier’s clients may face, and ignores important facts,” Frontier said. “Frontier provides Internet service in many rural areas of the country that are often difficult, sparsely populated and difficult to serve. Frontier’s DSL Internet service was enthusiastically embraced when it was launched and has kept customers happy for years.”
The FTC lawsuit goes against the promises of speed announced in Frontier, in which the ISP states that “consumers can receive DSL Internet service” up to “or” as fast as a certain speed counted in Mbps “, with these announced speeds of 1 Mbps. from 45 Mbps.
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