Altice to Pay $72 Million Over Response to Tropical Storm Isaias

Altice USA has reached a nearly $72 million settlement with New York over what the state has deemed the telecom provider’s failure to adequately prepare for or respond to Tropical Storm Isaias in August, during which more than 439,000 customers lost service.

“It is beyond unacceptable to leave hundreds of thousands of customers without the ability to access the Internet, especially during a time when so many people rely on broadband for work and school,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

He added that the almost $72 million settlement is the largest ever reached with a company overseen by the state’s Public Service Commission for failing to follow emergency response procedures.

The settlement follows a report in February from the Public Service Commission finding that Altice had “apparently failed” to follow significant parts of its storm readiness and emergency response plans when the tropical storm struck New York on 4 August 2020. The report specified violations including inadequate communication with customers, government officials and electric utilities, and failure to make sufficient readiness and restoration plans.

As a result of its failure to adequately plan, Altice was left unable to restore service quickly or to communicate effectively with customers experiencing service outages, the report said.

Several other phone and TV providers reported similar outages during the storm. The report also criticised Frontier Communications for its response to the crisis.

Altice will spend $68.5 million to upgrade its infrastructure and technology, including for storm responses, for which customers will not be billed. The company has also provided $3.4 million in customer credits.

Altice serves around 5 million customers and owns the Optimum brand in the New York area. In the south-central United States it uses the Suddenlink brand.