These companies, not the Bell monopolies, have been the real innovators of America's digital future. But according to the findings of a survey released by NNI on April 12, the Bells and GTE are providing competitive ISPs with substandard customer service and stifling competition. The result is a loss of revenue for ISPs. Across the board, ISPs rated their customer service experiences with the Bells as substandard in virtually all categories. The average grade was 3.7, well below an acceptable standard.
Poor equipment causes slow connections.
ISPs gave CLECs an approval rating twice that of the average rating for the Bells. Moreover, a majority of small ISPs in secondary markets across America reported that there were no competitive resellers and the Bells were either freezing them out of the market by pricing their own DSL service below the ISP's cost, or were not providing adequate customer service. To coordinate both large companies into a cohesive troubleshooting team in a crisis is impossible.