Tue, Dec 22nd 2020 6:41am
Karl Bode
For much of the last few years, broadband customers have been complaining that Frontier Communications, the nation s third-biggest telco, had been charging its customers a rental fee for modems they already owned. Normally, you re supposed to be able to buy your own modem instead of paying your ISP a rental fee upwards of $10 per month. To nab some extra dough from captive customers, Frontier basically decided to charge its customers a rental fee anyway, giving them a polite, though giant, middle finger when they complained.
This façade persisted until customers had a problem with their hardware, at which point the ISP would just shrug and claim there was nothing they could do. When consumers complained to the Trump FCC about this, the agency did. absolutely nothing. As with most complaints to the Trump FCC, the agency just forwards your complaint to the ISP in question then does. nothing whatsoever.