Melinda White, Regional President for the West Region of Frontier Communications, said that as part of its acquisitions in CA, Texas and Floria effective April 1, "we did expect that there would be some gaps and as we moved forward through the transition, we realized that the gaps that we were experiencing, many had something to with the fact that our network is an IP network, internet protocol, which means that it's largely software. So we do operate IP networks today across our 29 states, and what we identified across the California network, fortunately, is that the disruption was minimal, and you're right, across the state it was actually less than 1% of our customers who experienced any disruption as a result of the conversion...[Long Beach] is our largest market, very important to us as part of this California acquisition. Our focus is on addressing and resolving all customer issues as quickly as possible and that's what we've been doing over the last four-plus weeks..."

[Scroll down for further.]

In the item agendized by Councilmembers Austin, Price and Supernaw, Councilmembers orated, voiced concerns, but asked no direct questions; Mayor Garcia said next to nothing.

None sought basic information [that the company presumably knows or should know], including how many LB customers experienced disruptions and by what dates when might these LB customers expect their issues to be corrected? [Even SCE provides this level of basic information.]

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Councilwoman Price wondered aloud if the company's asserted less than 1% of disruptions statewide reflects LB's experiences on the number of customers affected, voiced concern over billing for services not provided ["I think a lot of the community has legitimate concerns and if they weren't able to access certain aspects of their cable, do they have to pay the full cable cost and I don't know what the answer to that question is; I don't know if you're prepared to answer that tonight or if we should have people email specifically about their specific bill to this email address that you gave us; we can do that; I'd like some further direction on that..."] suggested better company outreach, and invited the company rep to respond.

The company rep didn't respond on the number of LB customers affected, said customers would be credited for services not provided, defended the company's outreach and said its use of an offshore call center was an "interim" measure (acknowledging it had been "a bit disappointing") and indicated it's training CA-based call center reps but offered no date when they'd be operating.

Councilman Supernaw commended Frontier's field staff for responding swiftly to a constituent after Supernaw intervened via email, opined that Frontier's field techs seems knowledgable but there didn't seem to enough of them to handle the number of issues that arose, said "it sounds like just something that will be caught up with eventually" but didn't ask when that would take place. Supernaw also noted that in the transition, Verizon customers lost their Verizon email domain addresses, and said if Frontier has any way to resurrect this, it would be "another thing we could look into."

Councilwoman Mungo asked Frontier to look into possibility of a storefront presence, cited email address changes, faulted Verizon for allegedly pouring pavement that wasn't straight when it installed its FIOS system, and said the focus now should be on "how we can work through to the future," calling Frontier "a strong company" and adding "We're glad to have you here in Long Beach, and we look forward to a future of partnership."

Mayor Garcia asked no questions.

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Councilman Roberto Uranga twice indicated that he favored writing a letter to CPUC and asked about having a City presence at upcoming Sacramento hearing, but got no audible support from his Council colleagues or from city management. City staff said CPUC has indicated it will be looking into the issues, said the City doesn't plan to have a presence at a May 18 Sac'to Committee hearing and noted that a CPUC rep is expected to attend a "town hall" scheduled by Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell on Sat. May 14, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the EXPO Art Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave. (A flier from Assemblyman O'Donnell's office says: "Constituents will have the opportunity to resolve service issues with representatives from the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Frontier Communications" and space is limited so RSVP is requested: (562) 429-0470 or Allison.Gallagher@asm.ca.gov)

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As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, on Wednesday May 18, Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D, L.A./Burbank/Glendale) -- who chairs the Assembly's Utilities and Commerce Committee -- will hold a Sacramento hearing in his Committee [media advisory text] "to discuss the severe internet, telephone, and cable outages Frontier Communications customers are enduring across California...Frontier Communications customers have been experiencing severe telephone, internet, and cable outages since its transition from Verizon on April 1st. Media reports have detailed a myriad of issues customers have suffered through, including residents' inability to dial 911 for an emergency, home security alarms not functioning, and cities unable to live-stream city council meetings." Assemblyman Gatto office indicates the hearing participants will include representatives of the CPUC and Frontier Communications.

On May 12 at 11:52 a.m., we added a transcript [in brackets] of a portion of Councilwoman Price's exchange with Frontier's rep.