Are Broadband Providers Misleading Customers?

Three major companies in the U.S. have come under scrutiny from the Attorney General’s office of the state of New York. The Attorney General has decided to look into the truthfulness of their claims to consumers amid rising queries that customers in the state are being promised services which they are in no way receiving.

Three Internet providers are being investigated for possible misleading claims regarding their advertised broadband speeds. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is looking into claims by Time WarnerCable Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp that they provide super-fast internet connectivity after several consumer claims have been reported. In addition, a spokesperson for Schneiderman in quoted as having data recordings of speeds which were much slower than those which were promised. According to this spokesperson, the 2014 study by the Measurement Lab Consortium, in combination with consumer complaints and internal analysis hasresulted in this investigation taking place. This investigation comes one year after the Federal Communications Commission began scrutinizing ISPs and their download speeds. Until now, the FCC’s investigation is still continuing.

: Broadband Provider

According to Schneiderman, consumers who are already paying exorbitant sums for internet connectivity should not be plagued by the consequences of such misinformation and he will not allow such a situation to exist in New York.

On Oct. 23, letters were sent to executives of all three companies asking them to provide copies of the claims they have made to customers as well as copies of any testing they have carried out to check their internet speeds.

Spokespersons of Time Warner Cable as well as Cablevision have responded by claiming that they are confident in their respective companies’ delivery capabilities. Cablevision’s spokesperson, Charlie Schueler, went on to claim that the company always exceeds its advertised broadband speeds and this is inclusive of data from Federal Communications Commission as well as internal tests. Both companies look forward to resolving the present issue immediately. Cablevision has also agreed to provide any pertinent information regarding performance to the Attorney General. Verizon however, has remained unresponsive thus far.

Information requested by the companies under scrutiny includes that which is related to service reviews, customer complaints and service outages.

Source: Tech Times