Several employees have come forward since our first story about the problems facing Citizens Telephone Cooperative — Floyd County’s largest private employer. They tell horror stories of abusive supervisors and a company out of control. They also raise serious questions about management of the publicly-owned utility that has kept its subscriber-owners in the dark.
The broad range of concerns raised by employees shows this is more than a few gripes by a handful of disgruntled workers. Something may be seriously wrong with the company that controls phone and Internet service in the county and also seeks to become a dominant force in television and wireless phones as well.
The top echelons of Citizens remain disturbingly quiet about the recent meeting with employees where company management said revenue must be significantly increased by July or layoffs and cutbacks in service will begin. Department heads and others say they have been told not to talk to me, the press or the subscribers who supposedly own the company.
The question is: why? Why is Citizens stonewalling the subscriber/owners of the company? What has brought the company to this point? Was it mismanagement? Was it over-expansion? Or do we have more serious and sinister reasons behind the problems?
A long-time Citizens employee asked me Friday if I had a grudge against someone at the company. When I told that employee that, no, I have a lot of friends who work for Citizens and have come to know a number of others who came forward in recent days, the response was: "Good. I needed to know that. Now, please keep digging."
I will. We — the customers and owners of Citizens — pay some of the highest rates around for telephone, Internet and wireless service. We deserve to know what’s going on inside our increasingly troubled and secretive telephone company.
I’ve always been impressed at the service I’ve received from Citizens. When I was working as a system administrator at VA Tech, I would hear horror stories of the broadband service my co-workers were getting at home from other companies and felt fortunate to be served by Citizens. I found Citizens’ services to be straight-forward where other companies would go out of their way to impose technical and contractual restrictions on their customers.
I can imagine, though, that the exercise to lay fiber throughout Floyd County was expensive. It might be that Citizens’ broadband costs have become less competitive as they recover costs.
However, I am using their broadband service to replace (1) long-distance service (using Skype), (2) any cable or satellite TV service (through our $17/mo Netflix subscription with Instant Watch), and (3) gasoline (telecommuting via GoToMyPC). So I still see my 1.5 Mbps DSL as a good value at $49/mo.
Robert:
1.5 mbps? You must be pretty far from a switch. I have 6 mbps from Citizens at home and a fiber-fed connection at the studio that approaches 10 mbps. Yes, Citizens is more expensive for both Internet and basic phone service than urban areas but the availability of broadband Internet in Floyd County is, in my opinion, incredible for such a densly-populated rural area.
DSL is distance dependant and the top speeds are depend on how far you are from the nearest switch.
Citizens has failed to deliver its fiber to the premises service on time. They originally predicted the service would be county-wide by the end of 2005. But they still have not delivered on that promise.
Verizon and others are able to charge less for FIOS service in urban areas because of population density.
Folks should remember the roots of this Co-op, I bought in late, in 1985, on the coattails of the party lines and rotary dial. Earned a few dividends over the years and have remained “faithful” regardless of all the half-baked loss leading enticements of the competing phone providers. In terms of service, customer relations and a commitment to being in front of the technology curve there is no better outfit.
I switched to Citizens cell from the “can you hear me now” company when I was clobbered by unanticipated charges resulting from overuse and “roaming” problems. I couldn’t sustain a dialog with one individual, and each service rep’s attitude and training was in herd management.
Citizens somehow managed to link the Verizon towers at Conners’ farm and the FCHS getting a T-1 (or some kind of fast connection with fiber) out of the bargain. They also must have some growth pains from expanding into service areas to the west, and providing access to TV and wireless. Don’t shoot the piano player if he plays a sour note. Flexibility entails risk, I have to trust that informed people made those calculations.
Some people will complain of a lack of transparency, small organizations can’t afford to hang all the laundry on the line of public interest, the financial statement should reflect the big picture. Small firms are leaky and people will talk, but I most value that the co-op remains under local control and management. I don’t need to know the details, but I don’t want to be surprised either, thanks for keeping the light on.