FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has disclosed that the Federal Communications Commission has received more than 2,000 complaints related to COVID-19 and its effects on communications services.
Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Pai stated the FCC has logged approximately 2,200 pandemic-related complaints, and about 1,400 of those have already been addressed.
Roughly 500 complaints were filed specifically under the FCC’s Keep Americans Connected pledge, a commitment launched in response to the public health crisis.
“It’s my understanding that most of the complaints that we have received about the pledge have been resolved to ensure that the consumer remains connected,” Pai said.
Introduced in March, the pledge asked broadband and telephone providers nationwide to take steps to preserve connectivity for Americans for an initial period of at least 60 days.
Major carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, agreed as part of the pledge not to terminate service for residential or small business customers who could not pay their bills due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
At the end of April, the FCC urged participating companies to extend the pledge. The agency reports that more than 750 broadband and telephone providers supported the extension.
However, customers of providers that signed the pledge are not automatically protected from disconnection if they miss a payment. Service providers typically require customers to notify them and request assistance or an extension based on financial hardship.
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