Altice USA to Improve Service for Hamilton and Robbinsville Under Agreement Following Complaints

HAMILTON/ROBBINSVILLE, NJ - Hamilton Township and Robbinsville Township are among 14 New Jersey municipalities included in a recent settlement agreement that will see Altice USA, Inc. improve connectivity and customer service across New Jersey.

The settlement comes from an investigation launched by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in 2021 after local officials and state legislators shared concerns from residents regarding the service provided by Altice. Included in the complaints were instances of limited to frequent and lengthy service disruptions, inconsistent connections and fluctuating Internet speeds, long telephone wait times, poor customer service, and an inability to receive satisfactory responses to these complaints from the company both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Both residents and municipal representatives, the investigation found, collectively maintained that Altice USA, Inc. had failed in its duty to provide safe, adequate and proper service to their customers.

The NJBPU held a hearing on the matter on March 16, 2021, attracting over 300 participants, including  60 speakers who expressed the varying experiences they had regarding the services provided by Altice. An additional 300 comments and/or complaints were also submitted by Altice customers which outlined in detail the magnitude of the issues experienced which spanned the entire footprint of the service territory covered by Altice, with the highest number of complaints concentrated on slow or spotty internet service, extended hold times, untrained customer service staff, repeat trouble reports, service inadequacies, and overall dissatisfaction with the services provided, the report by the NJBPU shared.

The settlement, which includes requirements for Altice USA, Inc. to, among other things, invest a minimum of $11 million in the performance of its New Jersey hybrid fiber optic-coaxial cable (“HFC”) network serving Optimum NJ. In addition the settlement requires that Atice USA, Inc. to update each of the 14 communities identified by the Board over the course of this proceeding at least twice per year on service metrics relevant to local performance of the Optimum network, also includes requirements that the cable provider improves its customer service.

According to the settlement, Alice USA, Inc. will ensure that, under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by an Altice customer service representative, including wait time, will not exceed 30 seconds from when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, the agreement stipulates, the transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. Altice will ensure that these standards are met no less than 90 percent of the time under normal operating conditions, measured on a quarterly basis. Altice will ensure that, under normal operating conditions, Optimum NJ subscribers will receive a busy signal no more than three percent of the time.

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The agreement won the praise of Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin who told TAPinto Hamilton/Robbinsville that is “an example of what can get done when residents speak up and leaders work together to make their communities better.” The mayor of the largest municipality included in the settlement also made it clear that locally it was residents that brought the issues forward, ultimately getting the attention of the regulators that took up the issue.

Also included in the settlement is a stipulation that Altice USA, Inc. will provide its 1 Gig broadband product for free for three years to one community anchor institution. The benefit, valued at approximately $4,500, will be directed to the Hamilton Township Public Library, Martin said.

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