CHARLESTON — With West Virginia anticipated to see tens of millions of {dollars} of broadband growth work accomplished over the following decade, lawmakers heard what one of many largest cable and web service suppliers is doing to enhance service.
The Joint Committee on Know-how and the Choose Committee on Infrastructure held a joint assembly Tuesday morning on the ultimate day of November legislative interim conferences.
Committee members heard from Charlotte Lane, chairwoman of the West Virginia Public Service Fee, and Jim Campbell, vice chairman for state and native authorities affairs for Altice USA, the operator of cable TV and web service supplier Suddenlink.
The PSC held public remark hearings final summer season concerning service points with Suddenlink after receiving greater than 1,900 buyer complaints since 2019 concerning service-related points.
“Throughout these public remark hearings, we heard from in all probability 100 folks speaking about numerous service complaints and the dearth of response from Suddenlink,” Lane mentioned.
The PSC issued an order in July requiring Suddenlink to indicate trigger as to why the fee mustn’t impose statutory penalties towards the corporate. The PSC additionally held two days of evidentiary hearings into the Suddenlink service points. Lane mentioned the official file closed Monday and an order might come out from the PSC by the top of the 12 months.
The Cable Tv Methods Act, handed by the Legislature in 1999, offers the PSC jurisdiction over cable TV providers. The act offers the PSC authority to “require secure, dependable and high quality cable tv service at simply and affordable charges.” Lane mentioned the PSC would possibly have to ask for added authority from the Legislature to carry Suddenlink accountable.
“The Public Service Fee receives and responds to hundreds of complaints referring to Suddenlink yearly, and we get only a few complaints referring to another cable corporations,” Lane mentioned. “If, after our deliberations and getting an order out on this case, we discover out our jurisdiction must be elevated, then we will likely be coming again to the Legislature to strengthen the legislation on this space.”
In a Sept. 21 memorandum, PSC workers issued 20 suggestions within the Suddenlink case, together with recommending the PSC impose the utmost financial penalties. A few of the PSC workers suggestions for Suddenlink embody making a trackable course of for cable service outages, scheduling appointments with clients inside three days of requests, hiring extra name heart workers, faster processing of mail, relying much less on contractors for routine upkeep, and explaining why charges randomly change.
Campbell mentioned Altice and Suddenlink officers have been at each public listening to and filed their closing reply within the evidentiary case Monday. Campbell mentioned the corporate acknowledges the frustrations of consumers however inspired the PSC to work with Suddenlink versus issuing a strict order and penalties.
“I’m right here to let you know we personal it. If we personal it, we now have to repair it,” Campbell mentioned. “In our opinion … we predict a negotiated decision can be much better for West Virginians and our subscribers. That’s why we proceed to have the outreach … to attempt to push that ahead.”
Based on a submitting within the PSC case by Suddenlink final week, the corporate has already resolved 57 p.c of all complaints raised on the public hearings and on the PSC web site. Campbell mentioned a lot of the complaints boil right down to subject providers and buyer care.
“We’ve taken vital steps to enhance each of these areas over the past 12 months, however we now have an extended method to go, and we perceive that,” Campbell mentioned. “That’s why we wish to work with workers to indicate that we’ll take accountability. We will likely be measured, and we are going to present our progress on a periodic, common foundation.”
Campbell mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic over the past practically two years pushed Suddenlink to rely extra on contractors, and far of its customer support workers was working from dwelling.
“I feel there was a time period the place we had buyer brokers speaking to clients earlier than they need to have,” Campbell mentioned. “We’ve elevated the coaching time interval between which a buyer care agent is onboarded and begins working for the group till they really communicate with clients … they’re not going stay one-on-one with clients as rapidly as they have been a 12 months in the past.”
Suddenlink supplies cable TV and web providers to greater than 300,000 clients in West Virginia utilizing fiber-optic and coaxial cables.
Steven Allen Adams will be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.