Spectrum customers in Southern California are gradually getting a free upgrade to 200 Mbps — twice the usual Standard speed, starting with new customers.

Spectrum has been running commercials in the region promoting the company’s new entry-level internet speed of 200 Mbps, along with a free cable modem and no data caps. The current new customer promotion offers $44.99/mo for internet service for 12 months, or a package of TV and internet for $89.98 a month for 12 months (which does not include equipment fees or the significant Broadcast TV Fee, which will add at least $20 more to the TV side of your bill).

Some current customers in legacy Time Warner Cable areas are successfully getting the speed upgrade by asking customer service to re-provision their cable modem. Others are finding the new speed after briefly unplugging their modem, while others are still waiting for any upgrade at all. It is clear the company is soft-launching the speed upgrade and is taking some time before publicly announcing it to all of their existing broadband customers in the area.

About 45% of Charter Spectrum’s footprint supports 200 Mbps as the entry level internet speed, mostly in AT&T landline service areas in the Midwest. Charter has not said when the rest of their service areas will get the free upgrade, but considering the company is about to raise internet prices, bringing faster speeds soon might make the price hike sting a little less.

Spectrum is running this advertisement in Southern California, promoting 200 Mbps internet service. (0:59)

Jio founder Mukesh Ambani formally announces the launch of Jio Fiber.

Starting Thursday, the first 500,000 of over 15 million Indians pre-registered for service will begin receiving fiber to the home broadband at speeds starting at 100 Mbps, bundled with free unlimited voice calling for under $10 per month.

Jio Giga Fiber will eventually serve more than 20 million Indian homes and businesses in over 1,600 communities, charging a fraction of the prices charged by North American cable and phone companies, and expects to remain profitable by selling extra services, including unlimited global calling plans and television service, to Indian consumers. To sweeten the deal, customers that commit to a year of service will receive a 4K LED TV and set-top box for free.

Jio has already laid over 186,000 miles of optical fiber and has an existing base of 500,000 trial customers across India that have been testing the service.

Jio is India’s largest wireless provider, with over 323 million subscribers, making it the third largest mobile operator in the world. It is also one the newest, having launched wireless service in late 2015 over an expansive 4G LTE network. The company was founded by Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani, one of Asia’s wealthiest men. His vision is to make telecommunications services affordable and available to the largest number of people possible, with an emphasis on making entry-level plans usable and affordable. His presence in the Indian telecom market has caused the same marketplace disruption T-Mobile has caused in the U.S.

Jio’s chief competitor, the state-owned BSNL telephone company, is rumored to be negotiating with several of India’s independent cable and internet providers to offer a competing joint bundle of TV, landline, and broadband services over optical fiber at prices under $9.75/month.

If both companies are successful, Indians will have access to some of the cheapest internet service in the world. 

Jio Fiber is designed to provide India with fiber broadband service as good or better than what is available in the United States and Canada, for a much cheaper price. Ambani noted the average broadband speed in the U.S. is now 90 Mbps, but Jio Fiber will beat that with plans starting at 100 Mbps. He has successfully navigated around skeptical investors by putting up more than $30 billion of his firm’s own money to back the telecom venture, instead of returning that money to shareholders in the form of dividend payouts and share buybacks. He can raise even more cash by selling and leasing back Jio’s extensive network of wireless cell sites.

Ambani sees Jio’s fiber network as a foundation for marketing additional products and services. Wealthier Indians will be invited to spend up to $139 a month on gigabit internet, a deluxe TV package with over 600 TV channels, a landline with unlimited international calling, and access to popular movies on the same day titles are released in Indian theaters. Customers with premium level service will also get free subscriptions to “most” popular video streaming services available in India (excluding Netflix and Amazon Prime Video). One downside to Jio’s plan — it comes with a 100 GB monthly data cap. Those exceeding it will see their speeds reduced to 1 Mbps for the rest of the current billing period. There is no word yet about the availability of unlimited use plans at an additional cost.

Jio has been strategically planning to introduce fiber service for several years and has purchased several Indian cable companies to help manage infrastructure, installation, and a network of retail stores that will act as a sales point for Jio’s wireless and fiber services.

Jio’s Mukesh Ambani introduces India to Jio’s new fiber to the home service, which will cost under $10 a month. (6:59)

More than 20,000 AT&T workers are on strike in nine southeastern states. (Image: CWA Local 3)

AT&T customers in nine southeastern states can expect long delays getting new service installed and existing service repaired as a result of a strike by AT&T workers that began last weekend.

More than 20,000 AT&T technicians and customer service personnel that belong to the Communications Workers of America walked off the job on Saturday citing unfair working conditions including reduced paid sick time, increased responsibilities for overworked technicians, a mandatory requirement that employees be ready to report to work anytime day or night, and other work and benefit changes.

CWA officials claim their last official pre-strike talks with company officials were held August 20. A decision to strike was taken after AT&T sent corporate labor relations experts to the bargaining table with no authority to make contract decisions, which the union called “disrespectful.”

“It turns out that for over three months, we have been bargaining with people who do not have the real authority to make proposals or to reach an agreement with us,” officials at CWA Local 3 complained. “AT&T has also changed to rules of the game by changing our agreement about how we meet and bargain. As a result, CWA was forced to file unfair labor practice charges against AT&T for bargaining in bad faith.”

The strike affects AT&T residential and business customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Customers started noticing the impact of the strike almost immediately.

“My son started UAB today, and my daughter is starting school tomorrow,” said AT&T customer Cynthia Young in Clay, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., who lost service a few days ago. “Everything they do nowadays is on Google Classroom or some other platform on the internet.”

Young told WBRC-TV that an AT&T technician did not appear for a scheduled repair call, and the company is now giving her and other customers “the runaround.”

“No one called. We had a scheduled appointment. I understand things are going on but someone could have called, or, I could have gotten a text message saying, ‘due to unforeseen circumstances we could not keep your appointment. We will be in contact with you to reschedule’. You know, something that’s just good business,” complained Young.

Another Birmingham customer was told repair appointments now take more than a week, and her last appointment resulted in a no-show by AT&T technicians.

AT&T claimed it was surprised by CWA’s decision to strike, which the company says came without warning.

“We’re surprised and disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, particularly when we’re offering terms that would help our employees,” AT&T said in a statement. “We remain ready to sit down with union leaders to negotiate a new, improved contract for our employees. We listen, engage in substantive discussions and share proposals back and forth until we reach agreement. We are prepared for a strike and in the event of a work stoppage, we will continue working hard to serve our customers.”

The workers four-year contract with AT&T expired on Aug. 3, but both sides agreed to continue talks to find a compromise. The decision to strike came after union officials learned they were negotiating with company representatives that had no authority to negotiate. CWA said further talks were pointless until AT&T sent negotiators that can sign a new agreement.

AT&T employees in the affected region tell Stop the Cap! that service calls are being managed by some managers and supervisors until out of area contractors and employees can be brought in. Only high priority outages and urgent maintenance work is being completed. Routine service calls and new installations are being scheduled more than a week out or postponed altogether. If the strike lingers into several weeks, customers should be prepared for no-show service calls and additional delays.

WAGA in Atlanta interviews a CWA representative about what AT&T is offering vs. what they are distorting in their PR campaign. (2:18)

WXIA in Atlanta visits an AT&T picket line and explains what the strike is all about. (2:08)

WBRC in Birmingham, Ala. reports some AT&T customers are finding long delays getting service installed or repaired. (2:04)

Some Frontier Communications customers in Rochester were left without service early today in a “widespread” outage that impacted local governments, commercial customers, and medical care facilities.

Medical facilities are relying on backup plans to maintain communications after service failed this morning, just days after the New York Public Service Commission warned Frontier Communications it must improve service after receiving a growing number of service complaints impacting service across the state.

The outage is just the latest in a growing series of outages that have left some customers without service for as long as five weeks. Last week, state regulators released results of their 2018 survey on the service quality of telephone companies serving New York and found service from four Frontier-owned affiliates lacking:

• Citizens Telecommunications Company of New York, Inc. (Citizens)
• Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Inc. (Frontier Rochester)
• Frontier Communications of New York, Inc. (Frontier New York)
• Frontier Communications of Ausable Valley, Inc. (Ausable Valley)

“The rate of consumer complaints received by the Department of Public Service (PSC Complaints) has significantly increased in the last several years for these companies,” the PSC report concludes. “In addition, a review of company-provided initial data shows poor performance regarding repair duration for customers who lose service. Further, Staff has received an increasing number of complaints from local, county, and State government representatives and officials from first-responder organizations regarding network reliability and timeliness of repairs in the service areas of these companies.”

Frontier was a clear standout among problematic service providers serving New York. The company currently serves 221,000 access lines from 211 central offices and is the largest independent telephone company in New York outside of Verizon. Frontier is the incumbent landline provider for 7.9% of the state’s total access lines, with its largest service area centered on Rochester and the 585 area code. The PSC notes Frontier has been rapidly losing customers, with 30,000 access lines disconnected in 2018 alone.

But not every Frontier division in New York has operated below the PSC’s standards. Former Rochester Telephone-owned entities including Frontier Ogden Telephone Company and Frontier Communications of Seneca-Gorham, as well as Frontier Communications of Sylvan Lake experienced no significant outages or complaints in 2018. Frontier often allows its divisions to be managed somewhat autonomously, with local managers keeping watch over operations in their area. Frontier offers little residential fiber optic service in its New York markets, except in selected new housing developments and in areas where the existing copper network has deteriorated or been damaged beyond practical repair. Most customers are offered copper-based DSL service over telephone lines installed decades ago.

Frontier’s ongoing and increasing financial problems may be responsible for the spike in service complaints and lengthening repair times. Employees have repeatedly told Stop the Cap! resources to deal with service issues are increasingly scarce and cost management is among the highest priorities inside the company. Frontier’s service repairs often take days, if not weeks. Company officials have told employees that since most people have cell phones, landline repairs are no longer as critical as they once were years ago. But spotty internet service can significantly damage local businesses, and outages are becoming more frequent and taking longer to repair.

“The PSC Complaint rate has significantly increased in the last several years for these Frontier companies,” the PSC found. “In addition, Staff has responded to a significant number of network reliability complaints and inquiries from local, county, and State government representatives, including emergency response entities. These complaints include long repair durations and repeated out-of-service conditions, as well as internet access and speed issues.”

Stop the Cap! has learned the New York State Attorney General’s office has also opened an informal inquiry into the increasing number of internet service complaints filed with the AG’s office.

To learn why Frontier is experiencing an increasing number of problems, the PSC has requested more granular trouble reports and will interview Frontier’s local supervisors and technicians to get a candid assessment of Frontier’s wireline facilities and what exactly is contributing to a deterioration of service. If Frontier is unwilling or unable to improve service, the PSC has warned it may take formal action against the company.

WHAM-TV in Rochester reports some Frontier customers in Mount Morris, N.Y., south of Rochester, have been without internet service for five weeks, causing frustration. (2:05)

WROC-TV in Rochester reports on another multi-day Frontier service outage, this one affecting residential and business customers in the Sea Breeze and Point Pleasant areas along Lake Ontario. (1:58)

Ohio and Marshall counties are located in West Virginia’s Panhandle region, sandwiched between the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Emergency services officials in West Virginia’s Panhandle region are “scared” about Frontier Communications’ ability to provide reliable access to 911 after four outages in three months, and they are reaching out to the Federal Communications Commission and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) for help.

Public officials in Ohio and Marshall counties, sandwiched between the Ohio and Pennsylvania borders near Wheeling, are increasingly concerned Frontier may be no longer able to provide reliable basic service in the region.

“I’ve got to be honest with you. It scares the heck out of me,” Theresa Russell, Ohio County’s 911 director, told WTRF News. “I worry that after these types of incidents occur, I’m going to find out that somebody needed us and they had no way of getting through.”

Two recent outages occurred around midnight, one of which Frontier later said was a “planned outage.” But local officials claim Frontier never notified affected communities, preventing them from giving the public an alternate number to call in case of an emergency.

The other outages were unplanned, one impacting nine West Virginia counties that lasted well over an hour.

Frontier officials have increasingly responded to these outages by stressing the economic difficulties it faces serving remote areas in states where it is costly to provide service. In a statement, Frontier told the TV station that it “takes its commitment to serve West Virginians and support 911 services seriously.”

Frontier:

“Frontier provides service in the most rural areas of West Virginia where other providers choose not to invest to deliver service and where the challenges of remoteness are greatest. We work to promptly address service interruptions that occur from time-to-time because of severe weather events, vehicle accidents, third party construction damage to our facilities and other causes.

“We continue to evaluate and execute strategies to improve our service and ensure our customers have access to reliable and affordable service.”

WTRF-TV reports West Virginia’s Panhandle region is frightened about Frontier’s repeated 911 service outages. (1:36)