Altice inks $72 mn settlement as customers lost service during tropical storm

Altice USA has reached a nearly $72 million settlement to resolve New York state claims that the phone and cable TV provider failed to prepare for or respond to Tropical Storm Isaias in August, when more than 439,000 customers lost service.
Altice USA broadband
The settlement is the largest for any company overseen by the state’s Public Service Commission for failing to follow emergency response procedures, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in announcing the settlement.

Altice, which owns the Optimum brand, will spend $68.5 million to upgrade its infrastructure and technology, including for storm responses, and has provided $3.4 million in customer credits. Customers will not be billed for the upgrades.

Altice said its investments are intended to improve service, including during bad weather, and benefit all customers in the New York metropolitan area.

The Long Island City, New York-based company is not taking a charge for the upgrades or credits.

Cuomo had last Aug. 5 directed the state’s Department of Public Service to investigate major utility, phone and cable TV companies over their response to Isaias, which had struck New York the day before and caused more than 920,000 outages.

A report in February from the Public Service Commission said Altice “apparently failed” to follow significant aspects of its emergency response and storm readiness plans. Isaias was briefly a category 1 hurricane, but had been downgraded by the time it reached New York.

It said this left Altice unable to restore service in a timely manner or to communicate effectively with customers experiencing outages.

Several other phone and TV providers also reported outages, and the agency’s report additionally faulted Frontier Communications over its storm response.

Altice has about 5 million customers. It uses the Optimum brand in the New York area, and the Suddenlink brand in the south-central United States.

Latest

More like this
Related

TikTok creators to shift to rival digital platforms after U.S. court ruling

American TikTok creators are urging their followers to subscribe...

Apple plans $1 bn manufacturing plant investment in Indonesia

US-based technology giant Apple is planning to make an...

Samsung leads LATAM smartphone market in Q3 2024

Latin American (LATAM) smartphone market grew by 11.2% year-on-year...

Telefonica deal to sell stake in fibre optic network in Peru fails

Telefonica’s plan to sell stakes in its fibre optic...