States Field Complaints About Verizon/Frontier Transition
Frontier Communications said it’s working to resolve lingering transition problems after its week-ago acquisition (see 1604010036) of Verizon wireline customers in Florida, Texas and California. The telco said it resolved service disruptions in Tampa and is tackling complaints about video content and online account access. The Public Utility Commission of Texas told us it received an uptick in telephone complaints last week, while complaints sent to the consumer protection authority in Florida highlight a variety of issues experienced in the first week.
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Frontier completed its $10.5 billion buy of Verizon wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas April 1. The transaction included about 3.3 million voice connections, 2.1 million broadband connections and 1.2 million Fios video subscribers. In the first week after the switchover began, consumers in the transition states reported outages to state regulators, various news outlets and on Twitter. Friday, Frontier's service status map reported no known outages. Frontier also provides service updates on the transition on a website for ex-Verizon customers, MeetFrontier.com. Some other telecom deals have had rocky integration periods, along with pay-TV mergers and acquisitions, said articles in a Communications Daily Special Report on M&A (see 1508130047).
“The conversion has gone well given its scale and complexity,” a Frontier spokesman said in an email. “Shortly after conversion, some customers in Tampa, Florida, experienced service disruptions largely due to a switching issue and two fiber line cuts done by outside parties, which we quickly worked to resolve. Some customers are experiencing issues viewing some of the previously available Video on Demand (VOD) content as well as with registering for a Frontier ID. VOD content is available and we are continuing to add more titles each day, including those movies and TV shows previously purchased by customers. We are also resolving the outstanding issues related to Frontier ID. We are addressing small isolated issues in each state and are completely committed to each customer’s satisfaction.”
The Texas PUC received 23 complaints about the transition, more than it usually receives about a basic phone service, said a spokesman for the commission. At this “preliminary stage,” the PUC doesn't know how many are traditional landlines versus Fios broadband, he said. The commission will contact Frontier “to try and resolve the issues as soon as possible with the customers,” and continue to track complaints as they come in, he said.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services emailed us nine complaints related to the transition that it received from consumers. Since 2011, the department has had authority over consumer complaints about telecom companies rather than the Florida Public Service Commission.
Filing a complaint from his local library because his home service was out, one Tampa customer complained April 2 about the fiber cut referenced in Frontier’s statement. He said a contractor laying sod on his neighbor’s property accidentally cut his Fios line, but when he called Verizon, the telco told him to call Frontier instead. Frontier “informed me that they could do nothing to make repairs at this time because they are having technical problems and didn't know when they could resolve my problem.” Wednesday, a telecommuter from Tampa complained his landline phone wasn’t working, and Frontier had told him it couldn’t help him before April 11.
Customers elsewhere in Florida also reported problems. A customer in St. Petersburg on April 1 complained about lost business after not having Internet all day at his emergency security and fire alarm company. A customer in Plant City said he was without Fios service for six hours on the day of the transition. And a customer in Trinity reported problems with Fios TV, including menu features and VOD not working.
“We were never notified of this transition,” complained another customer from Trinity. “Our first hint was partial loss of service. … I cannot understand why two companies involved in communications can totally fail to communicate with each other and with their customers!”