Company reaches out to business community

Mediacom Regional Vice President Doug Frank addressed members of the business community with proverbial hat in hand Thursday when the company sponsored a Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn event.

Frank said Mediacom, which acquired Andy Cable in early 2017, had an aggressive plan for offering improved services in Andalusia and Covington County. But in the past two weeks, he’s learned that all of the plan wasn’t executed well.

“The bottom line is it doesn’t matter (what we have) if it doesn’t work,” he said.

Frank, who invited former Andy Cable owner Ivan Bishop and nine Mediacom employees to attend the meeting, said the community has been accustomed to responsiveness from the cable company.

“If you go to Ivan, something gets taken care of,” he said. “Wheat we can bring is technology Ivan couldn’t bring.”

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But, he said, there have been too many service calls and too many repeat service calls. Frank said he terminated most of the subcontractors who had been working with the company two weeks ago.

“A lot of our problems went away with them,” Frank said. “The one group that is left is all in uniform.”

Two weeks ago, Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson put Mediacom, one of Andalusia’s major Internet service providers, on notice, citing complaints from local businesses about broadband service. The city might need to become an Internet provider, the mayor said, for the good of local businesses. He has continued to explore that solution, and this week had the council review a video on steps taken by Ammon, Idaho, to address the issue of broadband access.

Asked about his subsequent meeting with Johnson, Frank said, “I understand where he’s coming from. It’s his job to do what’s best for the community. We’ve had some conversations, and I believe we can work together.”

Frank said Mediacom is behind its original schedule to have 1 gig access in place by April.

“We’re behind from what I said initially,” Frank said. “We might get further behind. If needing to go fast means to bring in contractors, we’re not going to do it. We’ve got to slow down and do it right.”

Frank also answered questions about business services and service calls. Business service calls move to the front of the line, and should be answered within hours, he said. Residential calls should be answered within two days.