A “Matter of Life and Death”

When phone lines and internet access go out, it’s no longer about losing a luxury. Emergency services and communications are vital and outages like the ones Frontier customers have been facing can mean life or death. But, with few other options out there, what can customers do?

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) has had enough of Frontier’s outages in her state, some lasting weeks at a time and even keeping people from calling 911. According to Ars Technica, Bladwin wrote to Frontier and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), claiming persistent outages, and Frontier’s inability to address them quickly, were putting residents at risk.

Frontier Communications has been investigated in several states for lengthy outages, according to Ars Technica, and may be filing for bankruptcy in early 2020.

Customers of big telecom companies often have few alternatives for internet and phone service, which makes it difficult to hold businesses like Frontier Communications accountable. But, there are ways to fight back if persistent outages and poor service are not addressed.

If you have a complaint against Frontier Communications, filing a legal claim may get them to listen and settle your dispute. Tell us about your complaint below, and we can help you get a fair resolution.

FairShake helps everyday people take on the big companies that mistreat them. We take your complaints seriously, and do everything we can to make sure you get a fair resolution.

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As we’ve previously reported, Frontier also failed to properly maintain its telecom network in Minnesota, leading to “frequent and lengthy” phone and Internet outages, an investigation by the state Commerce Department found in January 2019. That investigation led to a settlement after the FCC rejected a request to investigate.

New York state officials are also investigating Frontier over its repeated outages and long repair times.

Frontier reported having $16.3 billion in long-term debt as of September 30, 2019. The company reported revenue of $2 billion and a net loss of $345 million in Q3 2019.

The company has been losing subscribers, with its residential-customer base dropping from 4.15 million to 3.81 million in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2019. Frontier also reduced its workforce, which fell from 21,375 to 19,132 employees in the same one-year period.