Optimum official says Altice-related service issues were resolved at a 99.5% rate in 2025, council hears

Stephen Simonin, chairman of the Litchfield Cable Television Advisory Council, called the council to order at 6:34 p.m. Thursday and members approved the agenda unanimously.

Brian Smith, Optimum's director for Connecticut government affairs, told the council that Altice-related service issues were "addressed at a 99.5% rate in 2025," a figure he said was calculated on an auto-answer and routing basis and that the council's staff recorded as exceeding a cited federal guideline of 90 percent. Smith's statement was presented as the company's performance measure; the transcript records his acknowledgement of the method used to calculate the percentage.

Treasurer Gary Lafferty reported the council's account balance remained $4,748.52, unchanged since January, and that the balance reflects outstanding scholarship checks from 2024 and 2025. No further financial breakdown or the amount of the outstanding scholarship checks was provided.

Chairman Simonin said there was no public participation and solicited correspondence and town service reports; town representatives indicated there were no reported issues. With no further business the council adjourned at 6:59 p.m. The minutes were recorded as submitted by Howard Rosenfeld.

Why it matters: The Optimum representative's 99.5 percent figure, if representative of customer experience, would place the provider's 2025 service-resolution performance above the cited federal threshold; the council received the update but did not call for further investigation or action at this meeting. The treasurer's brief report indicates modest funds on hand and outstanding scholarship obligations that the council may need to follow up on at a later date.

The council did not take additional formal action on service metrics or scholarship payments during the March 12 meeting.