As more Americans are required to depend and rely on internet service for the necessities of work, virtual learning, video doctor’s appointments, staying safely connected to news / weather or even just to stay in touch with loved ones outside their households as we continue into the current public health crisis, we can all agree that high speed reliable internet access can no longer be considered a ‘luxury’.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operate as an unregulated industry, which is why we’ve seen the problems like those of Suddenlink customers abandoned without service or any accountability to restore services in Louisiana over a month after Hurricane Laura in late August. It wasn’t until the Louisiana House and Senate Joint Committee held a meeting on Friday, Sept. 18th regarding concerns of the lack of response to restore service that Suddenlink had a public statement addressing these concerns.*(1.)
And customers in Louisiana are not the only ones of with problems of ISPs. New York*(2.), New Jersey*(3), Arkansas*(4.), West Virginia*(5.), and other ISP customers all across the country*(6.), whether it is regarding service outages, egregious billing practices, or protecting the privacy of data for customers and employees, complaints are at an unprecedented all time high.
This HAS to change. It’s time for the FCC to regulate IPSs as we do other vital services, such as water and power.
So, where do we start?
UPDATE! Here is a link to a petition to get this conversation started;
Sources;
1. www.beauregarddailynews.net/…
4. katv.com/…
