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Law360 (November 2, 2020, 5:39 PM EST) -- A California Democrat is asking the Federal Communications Commission to release more details about consumer complaints it has received amid the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday, pressing him to publish the thousands of tickets Americans have filed with the agency that complain about internet service shutoffs, billing issues and other difficulties at a time when many internet service providers have promised to go easier on customers affected by the pandemic.
According to McNerney, the FCC's efforts to provide transparency into consumer issues this year haven't been sufficient.
"While your agency has made available a summary of the complaints on its website, the information that has been shared is incomplete," he wrote. "The American people deserve to know about the specific problems that are arising, whether the problems are being resolved, and how long it is taking to resolve them. Unfortunately, none of this information is publicly posted on your agency's website."
As Law360 previously reported, an early analysis of some 450 pandemic-related complaints to the FCC suggested that ISPs were not consistently honoring a voluntary, industrywide pledge to make internet access more attainable while many Americans are struggling to pay their bills.
The so-called Keep Americans Connected pledge enlisted nearly 800 companies to suspend service disconnections based on overdue bills, waive late payment fees, and open Wi-Fi hot spots to the public. However, the pledge expired at the end of June and is no longer in effect.
Out of roughly three months of coronavirus-related FCC complaints analyzed by Law360, about 40% pertained to service disruptions, disconnections and other ISP-related barriers to internet access. Other complaints touched on so-called fake news about the pandemic on the airwaves, technical problems with broadcasts of the daily White House briefings, and false advertising for predatory "services," such as HVAC cleanings and bogus virus cures.
McNerney asked Pai to ensure the agency releases details about these complaints by Nov. 13, including the text of the complaints and the status of whether they've been resolved. He also requested that the FCC disclose whether any of the complaints were referred to its Enforcement Bureau for investigation and whether the agency found examples of providers that broke their pledges.
Pai acknowledged in May that his agency was handling over 2,000 consumer complaints related to the pandemic. He has not suggested at any point that providers short-changed their customers. In an Oct. 27 speech, he praised ISPs for voluntarily answering the call to help consumers ride out the early days of quarantine.
"Many of you went above and beyond what was in the pledge, from offering discounts to low-income consumers to increasing speeds for free," he said.
--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
