Two Cablevision customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties are the lead complainants in a $250 million class action lawsuit filed Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court alleging the cable operator is illegitimately charging customers for service knocked out by Hurricane Sandy.

The suit claims that unlike other cable and phone companies in New York and New Jersey extending automatic service outage credits to impacted customers, Cablevision is only giving credits to customers who self-report outages within 30 days.

Cablevision was the hardest hit cable operator in the region, with its coastal service areas on Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey receiving the brunt of storm surges and wind-related damage. At least half of the company’s three million customers were without service after the storm hit Oct. 29. Nearly 80,000 customers are still without power and utilities are signaling some may wait until after Christmas before lights are back on. Some of the most devastated areas are not scheduled for restoration at all because those properties will have to be abandoned or rebuilt.

The plaintiffs claim Cablevision, “only agreed to rebate some of its most favored customers on a discretionary basis and in varying amounts, and only after the customers’ contacted Cablevision for the rebate.” The suit also alleges customers threatening to cancel service are getting the most generous rebates.

The suit suggests Cablevision should have known not to bill or accept money from customers that remain without service. Many Cablevision customers are on the company’s electronic billing and autopay programs, which will continue to deduct money from bank accounts for services customers cannot actually receive.

“The lawsuit misstates the facts and is without merit,” Cablevision said in a statement. “But lawsuits aside, we have an extremely broad and customer friendly credit policy following Sandy. Blanket or arbitrary credits for cable outages could shortchange customers because each case is different and our policy covers the entire period of time when Cablevision service was out, including when the service interruption was caused by the loss of electrical power.”

Cablevision says the amount of damage to its facilities is so extensive, it could impact the next quarter’s financial results. Company officials also admit some of their customers will not be coming back because their homes and businesses no longer exist.

Hurricane Sandy’s destructive forces of wind and water, combined with extensive electrical outages has wreaked havoc with telecommunications services from Maine to Virginia, leaving some customers potentially without service for weeks.

The storm has flooded Verizon‘s central switching offices in New York City, did extensive damage to Sprint’s wireless network and infrastructure, has left large sections of upstate and downstate New York without cable service, and clocks ticking for wireless cell customers using cell sites currently running on battery backup power.

Some of the worst problems are affecting Verizon’s landline and FiOS networks after the company lost two critical switching centers in Manhattan to extensive flooding. That has contributed to significant problems for Verizon customers across Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island. Further afield, Verizon customers without service can blame power outages and fallen trees that took out overhead wiring. Together, Verizon customers are experiencing significant problems with landline, broadband, and FiOS TV and Internet services in some areas.

Many Verizon Wireless cell sites are operating on battery backup units which maintain service for only a limited time. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut customers report increasing difficulty maintaining cell service signals as those battery backup units start to fail. Verizon engineering crews can restore undamaged cell sites with backup generators once permitted into storm-ravaged areas.

One of the hardest hit wireless carriers

Cablevision‘s business largely depends on areas that took a direct hit from Hurricane Sandy. Cablevision repair crews are encountering extensive power outages and damaged overhead wiring brought down during the storm in Connecticut and Long Island. Its service area closer to New York City has been primarily affected by power outages. Comcast said it was still starting an assessment process and was not prepared to report on the current state of its network, which operates in cities north and south of the New York City metro area.

While Time Warner Cable spokesman Alex Dudley reports little damage to Time Warner Cable’s systems, many remain offline from power interruptions, and Time Warner’s Twitter feed for upstate New York reports isolated outages in Portland, Maine and across upstate New York, primarily due to power losses or damage to infrastructure.

Sprint appears to be the hardest hit wireless carrier with widespread service outages, interruptions and call completion issues throughout the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Maryland, North Virginia and New England. Some customers far away from the worst-hit areas report trouble making and receiving calls on Sprint’s network. Many cell sites are also damaged.

AT&T is assessing damage to its landline operations in Connecticut, where it is the dominant phone company. Many AT&T cell phone sites, like Verizon, are operating on battery backup in power outage areas until AT&T can bring generators online to maintain service.

T-Mobile and MetroPCS report damage and service outages to their cellular networks as well, mostly from power outages.

Lyndhurst, NJ

Even old style communications networks were not spared from Hurricane Sandy. The Northeast Radio Watch reports a large number of broadcasters across the region off the air as of this morning:

• Outside of WOR (710), most New York City area AM stations are off the air. WOR survived the storm with its recently built three tower site located just above the flood waters. Chief engineer Tom Ray told NERW the water is 10 feet deep at WOR’s transmitter site in the Meadowlands. Many AM stations in New York favor transmitter locations in now-ravaged Lyndhurst and the Meadowlands. The result: indefinite absence of all-news WINS (1010) (it’s now back up — thanks to an update from Scott Fybush), which is now being heard on WXRK (92.3). Also missing: WLIB (1190), WSNR (620), WMCA (570), WNYC (820), WPAT (930), WNYM (970), WADO (1280) and WWRV (1330). FM outlets favor much higher transmitter locations, usually atop large skyscrapers, that escaped flood damage.
• WABC continues to air the audio portion of its broadcast on WEPN-AM (1050) and FM (98.7) for the benefit of those without power. WCBS studios are currently powered “by candlelight.”
• The Jersey shore’s FM outlets are mostly silent. Atlantic City was among the hardest hit, and some stations may be off the air for some time while rebuilding.
• Connecticut stations are also off the air. Powerhouse WICC (600) in Bridgeport has transmitters on Long Island Sound — a poor choice to withstand Sandy. It is likely underwater. Also gone: WGCH (1490 Greenwich), WAXB (850 Ridgefield) and WSHU (1260 Westport) and WALK-FM (97.5 Patchogue).

Repair crews for all concerned will likely only start assessing damage later today, but many will have to wait for power crews to complete work — they have first priority. Those lucky enough to see service restoration once power returns will be in far better shape than others who could wait weeks to get their Internet, television and phone service back.

Correction: Original story included reference to studio power knocked out at WOR-TV. That should have said WOR-AM (radio). 

Time Warner Cable has mass-emailed their customers in the northeastern U.S. about anticipated service outages expected from Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to move onshore between the Delmarva Peninsula to the south and Long Island to the north. The storm is expected to track west into central Pennsylvania and slowly move north between Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y., and then into Ontario and Quebec. Sandy will likely cause significant wind and rain until Thursday.

Forecasters are concerned about extensive regional utility outages caused by northeasterly winds ranging from 40-70 mph, atypical for a region that usually endures wind events from the west or southwest. Trees as far west as Erie, Pennsylvania are particularly vulnerable to northeastern wind gusts of this magnitude. The result could be extensive damage to overhead wiring and utility poles throughout the northeast, particularly in the highest wind areas along Lakes Ontario and Erie, across higher terrain areas, and in valleys that are oriented north to south.

The storm is expected to equal or exceed damage caused by 2011’s Hurricane Irene in some areas.

Dear Valued Customer,

Time Warner Cable prepares well in advance when severe weather threatens our area. We have deployed a variety of technical resources: generators, fuel, fiber-optic cable and specialized tools to strategic locations near the potential path of the storm, so we can respond immediately to any damage. We have also deployed specialized business recovery vehicles with food, water, supplies and tents for our technicians in strategic locations along the East Coast. The safety of our employees and customers is our primary concern as we prepare for this storm.

If you lose your Time Warner Cable services

If you call Time Warner Cable, our automated phone system will be able to tell you if we are aware of service interruptions in your area. If you call and hear that message, no further action is necessary. If your service is out and you don’t hear a message, you can report it through the system or by speaking with a representative at 1-800-TWC-HELP.

In severe weather situations, the first priority is to restore electric power. Time Warner Cable crews may not be able to access a repair site because of downed electrical wires or other unsafe conditions. As a result, customers’ electricity is often restored before their Time Warner Cable services.

Stay informed on breaking news by listening to your local radio station, watching TV bulletins and visiting our website regularly. You can also access our mobile site at m.timewarnercable.com in the event of a power outage. If you need assistance with your Time Warner Cable account during the storm visit us online at www.twc.com/help.

We encourage you to follow us on Twitter (@TWCable_Neast) where will be tweeting live updates about the storm and related outages.

Thank you,
Time Warner Cable

Frontier Communications is targeting promotional offers to customers that have been impacted by cable service outages and rate hikes, despite having a relatively poor service record itself.

Frontier president and chief operating officer Dan McCarthy told investors attending the recent Goldman Sachs Communicopia Conference the company was pulling out all the stops looking for surgical marketing opportunities.

“People don’t wake up every day, and say, ‘I want to switch broadband providers.’ It’s really about finding what is that lever to pull. Sometimes it’s a message at a key point — it could be during an outage, it could be during change of prices for them. It could be there are some substandard speeds that are being offered,” McCarthy said. “We are looking at what is the right mix of messaging and promotional offers that really allow us to do that. I think you’ll see us be pretty aggressive in that area,” he added.

But Frontier itself has had plenty of service problems, and was the only major Internet provider in the country to have lost ground in a July FCC report measuring broadband quality. The company continues to face extensive service outages when fiber cables are cut or copper wiring is stolen by thieves. Recent storms this past summer disrupted 277 Frontier central offices in the Carolinas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The repair work, including overtime and equipment, is expected to cost the company at least $15 million.

Frontier reports it expected to replace at least 167,000 feet of damaged or stolen copper cable and purchased 203,000 backup power generators to keep central exchanges up and running during extended electric outages.

This week, a major service outage struck customers in parts of Ft. Wayne, Ind. after an accident severed an important cable.

A number of customers in Frontier service areas have already disconnected their landlines with the company, but where cable companies do not provide service, Frontier reports it is having success selling a standalone DSL product it dubs, “Simply Broadband.”

“We are seeing success in attracting and retaining customers with this product and it is having a positive impact on our Q3 residential customer counts,” Frontier reports in an SEC filing.

Frontier has also recently announced speed boosts in several states that can deliver up to 25Mbps DSL service to certain customers.

A homeless man’s mattress fire under a bridge in Massachusetts was enough to create the biggest telecommunications disaster for Verizon since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The fire melted fiber and damaged copper cables that represented the backbone of Verizon’s landline network in the region, disrupting phone, cable, and broadband service for thousands of Verizon’s customers in northeastern Massachusetts in late August. Now that service has been restored, the damages from the outage and its ripple effects are still being calculated as questions are being raised about how the company handles its communications network.

The damage went far beyond an inconvenience for Verizon customers:

• Area businesses were ripe for plundering with Verizon-dependent alarm systems out of service;
• Cell towers went down if they were connected by Verizon’s fiber optic network;
• Local law enforcement communication systems ceased to function in areas where Verizon provided the vital link between the dispatch center and transmitting facilities miles away;
• Banks and other local businesses closed down because Verizon-based connectivity was inoperable. That left ATMs throughout the region out of service and credit card transactions often impossible to manage;
• 911 systems in several communities had to transfer emergency calls to other 911 centers miles away;
• Even the Registry of Motor Vehicles locked their doors and shut down while the outage persisted over several days.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/NECN Verizon telecommunications outage causes problems 8-31-12.flv[/flv]
NECN News reports on Verizon’s enormous Massachusetts service outage and how it impacted the lives of affected customers. (3 minutes)

Verizon’s landline network ultimately failed its Massachusetts customers on a scale the company admits it has not seen in a long time.

“It’s the biggest problem we’ve faced, nationally, other than 9-11,” Bill Wilson, area manager for Verizon, told the Eagle-Tribune. “This is the biggest problem we’ve had in 20 years.”

At the heart of the problem is Verizon’s lack of redundancy in its landline network. With fiber optic cables managing a larger share of broadband traffic, phone calls, and even Verizon’s television service, the loss of even a single fiber cable can disrupt service for hundreds or thousands of customers, many more than would be affected by a damaged copper cable.

State Sen. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) is questioning Verizon’s decision not to have a backup plan in place.

“So if there’s a fire there’s a redundant system in place so if one fails there’s another to back it up,” Finegold said.

Customers, particular those working from home, wholeheartedly agreed.

“I am appalled,” Shela Horvitz, a Verizon FIOS customer who lost her phone, Internet and TV service for days as a result of the fire, told the newspaper. “Can you say, ‘Single Point of Failure?’”

[flv width=”640″ height=”380”]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Eagle Tribune Verizon Talks to Media About Outage 9-2-12.flv[/flv]

Verizon officials show reporters what the fire did to their network and how they are going to restore service after a fire on Lawrence Central Bridge caused mass outages in the region. From the Eagle-Tribune. (4 minutes)

Verizon blames the entire affair on homeless people, who they say should not have been sleeping on top of their wires. The idea of network redundancy for Verizon’s landline network? “Cost prohibitive,” say company officials.

Joseph Zukowski, vice president for government affairs for the phone company, said the problem was so rare, it was comparable to a 100-year storm. He compared the outage with a natural disaster.

“We have extensive security measures to make the network as secure as possible,” Zukowski said. “We restrict building access and access to our cables. Nowhere on the list is a homeless guy lighting a match on a mattress. We’re not laying blame, but the best thing would have been not to have the tent city there.”

Local police acknowledge the bridge where the cables cross the Merrimack River is a popular spot for the local homeless to congregate, and they have attempted to control the problem. But nobody ever told them Verizon’s vital regional communications network infrastructure was at ground zero of the mattress fire.

“Going forward, if the stuff that’s there is so important, it really needs to be secured so nobody can get access to it,” said police chief John Romero.

Verizon has promised refunds for all affected customers.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Verizon Lawrence MA Bridge Fire Verizon Restoration 2012 9-1-12.flv[/flv]

A Verizon-produced video illustrates how the company is repairing its damaged network. The heat from the fire on August 27th melted and fused both fiber and copper cables, and the protective casings that house the cables.

Verizon: “The work to restore service is complex, given that technicians are splicing thousands of individual copper and fiber-optic connections in a very confined area under the bridge. The conduit structure that holds the cables, which was protected by a metal cage, was destroyed and needs to be replaced. Verizon crews have been working in 24-hour shifts since the fire to restore service for customers and will continue to do so until every customer is back in service.”  (2 minutes)