West Virginia's Attorney General reaches a significant settlement of $119.5 million with Altice USA
Altice USA, the parent company of Optimum and Suddenlink Communications, has reached a $119.5 million settlement with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The settlement comes after a nearly four-year investigation into consumer complaints regarding Altice's internet services sold to West Virginia residents.
The complaints, totaling over 2,300 from 2020 to 2023, centred around customer care issues such as billing and technician visits. As part of the settlement, Altice has agreed to spend approximately $4 million on consumer credits for current residential customers.
The settlement also includes a $500,000 payment to the state of West Virginia. Much of the monetary costs in the settlement involve past investments and future investments by Altice to improve its network. Altice has agreed to invest an additional $40 million in West Virginia for the years 2025-2027.
In addition to the financial aspects, Altice has entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with the state without admitting any violation of West Virginia's Consumer Credit and Protection Act. This agreement aims to ensure that Altice adheres to the state's consumer protection laws in the future.
Optimum, a subsidiary of Altice, has agreed to build out its hybrid coaxial/fiber internet system to achieve the aforementioned internet speeds for all residential customers. The infrastructure upgrades and build-out must be completed by the end of December 2027. If Altice fails to complete the upgrade project by this date, it faces fines up to an additional $40 million.
The settlement resolves thousands of consumer complaints about Altice's quality of service in West Virginia. A copy of the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance is available for public viewing.
It's important to note that the settlement does not provide a detailed breakdown of the $119.5 million settlement, including specifics on investments, consumer credits, and fines. For a more detailed breakdown, you may want to refer to official press releases or legal documents from Altice USA or the West Virginia Attorney General's Office.
The settlement also follows a $2.2 million fine imposed by the Public Service Commission in 2022 on Suddenlink Communications, another subsidiary of Altice, for ignoring thousands of customer complaints, reducing the number of full-time employees, intentionally reducing maintenance work and budget, and changing its method of communicating with customers.
With the settlement, Altice's investments will enable residential customers to receive internet speeds of up to 1 Gig download/100 Mbps upload, significantly improving the quality of service for West Virginia residents.
- Altice USA has agreed to invest an additional $40 million in West Virginia's infrastructure for the years 2025-2027, which includes building out Optimum's hybrid coaxial/fiber internet system.
- As part of the settlement, Altice has entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with the state, aiming to ensure that it adheres to West Virginia's consumer protection laws regarding video and media content, billing, and more in the future.
- The settlement includes a $500,000 payment to the state of West Virginia and approximately $4 million in consumer credits for current residential customers.
- The financial aspects of the settlement involve past and future investments by Altice to improve its network, IP infrastructure, and business practices, with specifics available in official documents from Altice USA or the West Virginia Attorney General's Office.
