Essex residents report slight improvement in phone service

Residents of Essex say their CenturyLink telephone service has improved since a May 15 Daily Inter Lake article highlighted the community’s problems with the telecommunications company, but their troubles are far from resolved.

“I have still had some issues with clicking noises on the line, but after all we have already been through I decided not to call it in. We will take whatever kind of win we can get,” Essex homeowner Annette Leverington said. “We started seeing work crews along the road just days after the article. That could just be a coincidence, but I really doubt it. Before, we would sometimes see their technicians working over in West Glacier. Now, we are seeing them actually working around town, which is a first.”

For the better part of a decade, CenturyLink customers in Essex have dealt with everything from dropped calls and excessive static to ignored repair requests and complete lack of service for days and even weeks at a time. With cell phone coverage nearly nonexistent in the area, residents are often left with no way to reach the outside world.

While residents say their phone service has worked uninterrupted for the first time in recent memory over the past two months, many issues have yet to be addressed.

Workers have been seen repairing the junction boxes near mile marker 179 along Highway 2, but the exposed wires and connection pedestals knocked down years ago by snow plows can still be seen across the community.

“Centurylink has been up here working a lot since the article came out. They have been out more days than they used to and they actually seem to be working all day. Maybe they are finally trying to fix their mess, but it must be a slow process,” Leverington said.

According to Leverington, several of her neighbors have been able to negotiate lowered bills and even refunds for days spent without service through CenturyLink.

An investigation by the Montana Public Services Commission into the adequacy of legacy infrastructure operated by CenturyLink in the Essex and Wibaux County areas is ongoing.

The organization is currently taking comments and complaints from CenturyLink customers via email at pschelp@mt.gov and by phone at 800-646-6150. The deadline for comments is July 29.