CenturyTel DSL woes
Months of slow connection speed frustrates Sublette County customers
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
March 11, 2009
Sublette County residents using CenturyTel DSL internet service have experienced several months of frustration due to service speeds that have degraded to slow and sometimes non-existent.
The problem, according to CenturyTel Area Operations Manager Al Davis, is that the company is in the process of moving their service from Union Telephone’s microwave over to newly placed fiber that will connect to Qwest in order to meet the local need for additional bandwidth for area customers.
"Right now we’re down to a snail’s pace," Davis acknowledged today in a phone conversation. "If you bear with us, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
"It is a tedious and lengthy process," Davis said. "All this should be completed within the next eight weeks, barring any unforeseen complications." The end result will be better, faster service and bandwidth for current and future Sublette County DSL customers, Davis promised. "So far, CenturyTel has invested over one million dollars to insure we can accomplish this task," Davis said.
In addition, Davis said there was an equipment failure in Kalispell, Montana this week which caused complete DSL service outage to Sublette County customers for parts of Tuesday and Wednesday. CenturyTel's Sublette County internet service goes out to the world through Kalispell.
A special phone number has been set up for Sublette County customers to call if they have questions or are dissatisfied with having to pay full price for service for their DSL. The number is 1-877-480-8582.
According to Kim Valiquette, CenturyTel Public Relations Manager, customers should explain their situations to the customer service representative at the support contact phone number. "Not everyone is having the same problems," she said. The Customer Care Center will work with customers to give credits or get bills reduced.
Other options for internet service to our area include Wyoming.com (1-800-996-4638), Visionary Communications (VCN.com, Communication Concepts 307-367-4222), Verizon (verizon.com, 1-888-588-0875), and satellite: Hughes Net (hughesnet.com, 1-800-606-1520) and WildBlue (wildblue.com, 1-800-945-7092).
|
