North Carolina and five other states have joined the Federal Trade Commission in suing Frontier Communications over slower-than-advertised DSL internet speeds.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said his office has received nearly 400 complaints since 2015 and thousands more have complained to the federal government and the company.
“People deserve to get the service they pay for and nothing less, especially when it comes to a service as critical as the internet,” Steinsaid in a press release. “Frontier overpromised, overbilled, and under-delivered, and yet many people had no choice but to continue using its services.”
Frontier has 1.3 million DSL customers in 25 states, including parts of western North Carolina, Union County and the Durham area.
"Many consumers have complained that the slower speeds actually provided by Frontier failed to support the typical online activities they should have been able to perform at the speed tiers Frontier had sold to them," the FTC said in announcing the lawsuit.
Joining the FTC and North Carolina in the suit were attorneys general from Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as the district attorneys of Los Angeles County and Riverside County. They filed the suit at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Frontier recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a judge approved a reorganization plan that splits it into three companies. The suit names both the pre-bankruptcy Frontier and the new companies.