The state Office of Consumer Counsel has released a report on broadband deficiencies in Connecticut that paints a troubling picture for both business and residential users.
Prepared by a Maryland consulting firm, the report, “A Brief Overview of Broadband Deficiencies in Connecticut” found a range of what it called “serious broadband challenges,” including:
- Maximum speeds are often far less than what businesses need for their current operations;
- There are limited or no affordable competitive options for broadband services for businesses in urban areas;
- Businesses’ growing needs for broadband will further exceed the available broadband services; and,
- Businesses face long delays in obtaining services, or are unable to obtain service even when infrastructure is relatively nearby.
The report included a sampling of Hartford businesses where it found poor download and upload times, as well as expensive options costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in some instances to acquire better service. The report said, “The poor service at the sampling locations in Hartford was surprising, given that the city is the state capital, a major city in the state, and a densely populated community.”
In a statement, Frontier spokesperson Liz Grey Godbout said the report is based on a mere handful of pre-selected sites, egregiously misrepresents Connecticut’s highly competitive broadband landscape and the broad availability of high speed broadband services in the state, and ignores the significant work Frontier has done since it acquired SNET in October 2014 to enhance broadband speed, access and affordability in Connecticut.
The consumer counsel’s office cited concerns about service provided by Frontier and Comcast in Hartford. Citing anecdotal evidence, the report said both are not acting on requests to expand service availability or speeds to businesses that are specifically requesting new and better service (often over a period of months or years).
Frontier said the company has over 860,000 miles of fiber-optic cable in its Connecticut network and has a program of continuous major infrastructure upgrades that has provided thousands of residential and business customers with the ability to access high-speed Internet service that is substantially faster than previously available.
The report questioned the high price of service compared to other parts of the country. The report said in the sample locations, the price for service that is adequate at best is high, especially in comparison to services in many other urban areas, not to mention the gigabit services available in other parts of the country at $70 to $100 per month (e.g., Google Fiber markets and cities with municipal fiber networks).
Frontier said it has recently unveiled its fiber-optic, Gigabit-capable residential Internet connection at a single-family housing development in North Haven and has announced plans to invest $480 million in its state network over three years.
State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, reacting to the report’s conclusions, said in a statement, technology infrastructure investment – including both ultra-high-speed broadband networks and data centers – is absolutely imperative to both attract businesses to Connecticut and to keep existing industries from leaving.
The consumer counsel’s office also conducted sampling in less populated areas in the northwest corner of Connecticut, where it said local officials reported that area residents and businesses faced significant challenges in obtaining even a basic level of broadband service in some locations.
A group of local leaders, composed of both town officials and residents, has formed a coalition known as “NWConnect” that is meeting with incumbent providers in an effort to increase options for local residents; the coalition reports that it not seen any increase in service or speed to date.
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