Last week the Federal Trade Commission hit Frontier Communications, a major broadband and cable provider, with an order charging the company with “lying” and “ripping off” customers.
The FTC also ordered Frontier to pay fines and other costs amounting to over $60 million, including a $8.5 million cash fine to the agency.
“Frontier lied about its speeds and ripped off customers by charging high-speed prices for slow service,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement Thursday.
“Today’s proposed order requires Frontier to back up its high-speed claims. It also arms customers lured in by Frontier’s lies with free, easy options for dropping their slow service.”
Frontier did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FTC action, which was filed with the federal district court in Central California, comes a year after an initial complaint was filed accusing Frontier of not delivering its digital subscriber line (DSL) internet service at the speed promised.
The agency said it had received thousands of consumer complaints alleging false and deceptive advertising practices since January 2015.
It said Frontier sold tiered plans, or speeds, including a maximum rate that “fell far short of what was touted.”
Frontier, based in Norwalk, Connecticut, provides DSL service to approximately 1.3 million consumers, many in rural areas, across 25 states, the FTC release said.
The FTC accused Frontier of violating the FTC Act and numerous state laws by falsely claiming the speeds of the internet service it would provide and also engaged in unfair billing practices, charging for a more expensive service than it provided.
The publicly traded Frontier has seen its stock drop nearly $6 per share since the beginning of the year to just above $23.26 per share as of Wednesday morning.
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