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posted by martyb on Sunday April 12 2020, @09:10AM   Printer-friendly
from the ████-and-████ dept.

Frontier bungles redaction of network audit that it doesn't want you to see:

Frontier is trying to hide large portions of an audit report from the public, claiming that details about the ISP's broadband-network problems are trade secrets. But when Frontier made a redacted version of the report public, many of the blacked-out parts were still readable simply by copying and pasting from the document.

The Frontier-edited version of the 164-page report, which was ordered by the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) and written by a consultant firm, includes about 80 redacted exhibits and many pages that have been fully or partially blacked out. Frontier seems to have successfully redacted the exhibits, including many charts, but the blacked-out text is easy to lift. (Update: It turns out some of the exhibits weren't properly redacted, either.)

For example, one redacted sentence says that "Frontier WV's copper network has at least 952,163 connection points that are susceptible to moisture, corrosion, loose connections, etc. that may cause interruptions of service to customers." That "952,163" number was blacked out, but it's still readable if you copy it from the document. We've uploaded the document to our server in case it gets taken down from the PSC website—you can view it here.

Describing the connection points, the report says, "Any electrically connected circuit has numerous points where connections are made. As systems and networks age, all of the connection points have the potential to cause service interruptions." The 952,163 connection points include 376,897 overhead splices, 444,898 terminals, 4,508 crossboxes, and 125,865 pedestals. Copper networks were originally deployed with "a minimal number of splices," but "later, splices have to be added as repairs are made," the audit report said. "No installation date data was available for splices."

[...] The West Virginia PSC previously ordered the third-party audit of Frontier's operations in the state in response to widespread outages and complaints from customers and a labor union. The resulting audit report was submitted on March 18 by consultancy Schumaker and Company, but the completely un-redacted version is under seal for now.

Frontier on March 25 made its redacted version of the report public and filed a motion seeking confidential treatment of the redacted details. "The redactions primarily are of information that, if known to competitors, would provide them with key competitive insights into Frontier's business and, conversely, would place Frontier at an undeserved competitive disadvantage, likely resulting in harm to Frontier," the company told the PSC.

The PSC is considering calls to make an un-redacted version public. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reporter Emily Allen filed a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request for the full, un-redacted report, and the PSC's staff urged the commission to reject many of Frontier's redactions.

[...] Despite Frontier's extensive redactions to exhibits, the West Virginia report still offers details about the company's customer-service problems. Schumaker reported "negative trends" in six service metrics, namely outages, service problems, repair answer times, repair troubles, repair appointments met, and residential and business answer times. Unfortunately for subscribers, "Frontier does not provide customers credit in situations where the same trouble for the same service are reported on the same line within 30 days."

[...] "Frontier has not had a pole inspection program that detects poles that do not meet strength requirements for a number of years," the report said. "This lack of knowledge about the condition of the pole population may have created a significant backlog of poles that need to be replaced."

Frontier has "no standardized procedure/process to be followed when determining root causes for the poor performance of any given wire center," the report said. Schumaker also pointed out that Frontier "does not have a computer system or management process for performing preventative maintenance" but said the company was "in the process" of setting that system up while the investigation was ongoing.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Sunday April 12 2020, @02:28PM (2 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Sunday April 12 2020, @02:28PM (#981510) Journal

    Well, that's bullshit. There's nothing to "consider". You make the damn thing entirely public post haste.

    Who does this Public "Service" Commission really serve?

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 2) by epitaxial on Sunday April 12 2020, @02:53PM (1 child)

    by epitaxial (3165) on Sunday April 12 2020, @02:53PM (#981518)

    Being a board member of the corporation after they "retire" from their government job.

    • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Sunday April 12 2020, @03:45PM

      by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 12 2020, @03:45PM (#981541) Journal

      That's a real problem, and should be illegal. Possibly a felony...with a specific rule that the sentence not be served at a "country club" penitentiary.

      --
      Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.