The Telecommunications Bureau Orders Investigative Hearing on AT&T Customer Migration to Liberty
The Telecommunications Bureau (NET) of the Public Service Regulatory Board has ordered the holding of an investigative hearing to look into the migration process of AT&T customers to Liberty, following the completion of the purchase of its assets.
The hearing, which is scheduled for February 28 at 10:00 am in the hearing room of the Board in Santurce, will include the appearance of Liberty representatives as well as the Independent Office for Consumer Protection (OIPC) to represent the affected customers.
Interim president of the NET, Ferdinand Ramos Soegaard, stated in a press release, “We have decided to summon Liberty Mobile to an investigative hearing to hold it accountable and address the situations faced by consumers in the migration process.”
During the hearing, the NET will seek to understand how management has been handled before and after the migration, the number of affected clients, and the adequacy of notifications to consumers. They will also monitor the company’s corrective measures, mitigation plans, and reparations to consumers for damages.
Additionally, the Bureau has requested Liberty to report whether it granted credits to customers in San Juan, Trujillo Alto, and Carolina for an interruption of internet service experienced on December 9, 2023, when over 28,000 consumers were without service for 12 hours.
The summons to the hearing comes in the midst of an investigative process that the NET has been carrying out since October 2023, after the OIPC requested to understand how Liberty has handled the migration process of the clients they inherited from AT&T.
Among the problems reported by consumers are service intermittency, including calls, text messaging, and internet access, as well as the inability to use roaming services outside of Puerto Rico.
It has been reported that the NET has declared Liberty Mobile’s request to dismiss the investigation “inadmissible.”