Commissioner Brandon Presley
Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley announced today that in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the Mississippi Public Service Commission has requested a full compliance audit of AT&T Mississippi regarding information submitted to federal entities surrounding the telecom giant’s claims of providing internet service to homes in Mississippi through the company’s use of federal dollars in the FCC’s Connect America Fund.
In recent weeks, Presley issued a subpoena to AT&T as part of a PSC investigation into the company’s claims of providing internet service to 133,000 locations in Mississippi using federal aid from the Connect America Fund. Presley says the PSC has clear and convincing evidence that data submitted by the AT&T Mississippi to federal entities is invalid and that the company has factual knowledge that the information is incorrect.
“AT&T Mississippi has submitted information regarding internet service to Mississippians that was funded by the Connect America Fund that they know is false. Our investigation has revealed a wide-array of inconsistencies in what AT&T advertises as available and what actually exists when consumers try to get internet service. All the while, AT&T has submitted data saying that they have used federal funds to bring internet service to these specific homes,” Presley said. “AT&T knows, for a fact, that information that they have provided regarding where their internet service exists is false. They know that through their own, internal records. It’s imperative that the FCC and other appropriate federal agencies work with us to hold them accountable.”
A copy of the PSC’s letter to the Federal Communications Commission is attached.
Press Release
9/29/2020
Magnolia Tribune
