CHARLESTON — The House of Delegates committee working on a bill laying out new broadband regulations heard from Suddenlink Communications on Monday on what the cable and internet service provider was doing to improve service for customers.

The House Technology and Infrastructure Committee heard from Jim Campbell, vice president for state and local government affairs for Altice USA — the operator of cable TV and internet service provider Suddenlink.

“We are partnering with the state to expand our footprint into areas that we don’t currently serve that have been cost-prohibitive to get to,” Campbell said. “Those places are unserved … This is once in a generational lifetime to truly bridge the digital divide.”

The West Virginia Public Service Commission issued an order in July requiring Suddenlink to show cause as to why the commission should not impose statutory penalties against the company. The PSC also held two days of evidentiary hearings into the Suddenlink service issues, as well as public comment hearings last summer regarding service issues with Suddenlink after receiving more than 1,900 customer complaints since 2019 regarding service-related issues.

According to a progress report submitted to the PSC in December, Suddenlink said that out of 262 complaints received at the public hearings and through the PSC, approximately 57 percent of the complains had been resolved.

Another was supposed to be submitted in early January. Campbell said that technical call complaints were down 44 percent year over year. Campbell said that was a sign that the network was working better and that the customer service agents were handling complaints effectively.

“We share the state’s goal, that we want to provide the best technical and customer experience to the residents of West Virginia,” Campbell said. “We also acknowledge that we’ve had some substantial challenges over the last two years. We own them. Some of the factors that have caused these have been external. A lot of them have been internal. We recognize that it is up to us alone to fix these issues and solve these problems for our customers.”

Suddenlink and other internet service providers are part of the focus of a bill the committee is considering dealing with broadband service in West Virginia.

House Bill 4001 would create the Legislative Oversight Commission on Department of Economic Development Accountability. The bill creates a new commission to provide oversight for all financial investments made by the new state agency created last year.

The Department of Economic Development is the lead agency for the influx of millions of state tax dollars for certain economic development investments, such as the proposed Nucor steel mill in Mason County. It is also tasked with spending federal dollars for high-speed broadband expansion.

The other half of HB 4001 creates a number of funds to invest dollars for various broadband programs, such as middle mile broadband expansions, pole replacement and relocation, conduit installation and right of way mapping, as well as additional consumer protections. If the Legislature decided to provide dollars for all those funds, the fiscal impact could come to more than $59 million, though committee counsel Brian Casto said there would be no fiscal impact.

The bill also includes a requirement for telecommunications companies that offer internet service to apply for “eligible telecommunications carriers status” with the Public Service Commission to show that the companies are in compliance with the FCC’s Universal Service Fund.

A subcommittee met prior to the House Technology and Infrastructure Committee on Monday to consider changes to HB 4001, sending the bill back to the full committee. Subcommittee members heard testimony from internet services providers and PSC Chairwoman Charlotte Lane.

“We do not have jurisdiction over Voice over Internet Protocol, so we would not be able to even know who the telecommunication carriers are who provide that, because they have no interaction with us,” Lane said. “We have done everything to date that we can to make broadband accessible to the extent that we have any jurisdiction whatsoever … It sure seems like there are a lot of steps being proposed with this bill.”

The updated bill empowers the West Virginia Attorney General’s Office to determine compliance with various legal standards. The bill’s lead sponsor, House Technology and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, has led the charge on holding internet services providers accountable.

“The bill actually contemplates (telecommunications carriers) making application for this status to the Public Service Commission, so they would know for they are based on the application for this status,” Linville said. “This would provide the State of West Virginia the opportunity to hold those providers accountable.”

Linville said more than $700 million in federal broadband dollars could likely flow through the Department of Economic Development over the next several years.

“While we trust, we would hope to verify,” Linville said. “If folks know someone will be watching, I hope that they would carry out the intent of the Legislature and the intent of Congress correctly.”

(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)