The Federal Trade Commission has ordered internet service provider Frontier Communications to pay more than $8 million for allegedly lying to consumers and charging them for high-speed internet speeds it fails to provide.
Under a proposed order with the FTC and two California law enforcement agencies, Frontier will be prohibited from misleading consumers regarding its slow Internet service.
Connecticut-based Frontier must also provide current customers with free and easy cancellations when it fails to deliver promised speeds, the FTC said.
In a lawsuit first filed in May 2021, the FTC alleged that Frontier announced that it could provide different digital subscriber line (DSL) internet speeds depending on the type of plan purchased by a customer.
According to the FTC, Frontier failed to provide many consumers with the maximum speeds they were promised, and the speeds they received did not match the packages they purchased.
Frontier must also follow several other policies, such as ensuring it can provide advertised internet speeds and prohibiting customers from signing up for DSL internet service in certain areas with high user volumes, which slows down the service.
Frontier will also have to pay $8.5 million in civil penalties.
