Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision Faces Attorney General Inquiry Regarding Slow Internet Speeds

New York's state attorney general's office has sent letters to three leading United States broadband provider suggesting that the Internet speeds they deliver to their respective customers do not match what they are promising and advertising.

The three companies were Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Cablevision. In the letters addressed to the three companies, the New York attorney general's office questioned the "technical and business decision" imposed by the companies that may lead to reduced download speeds. The letter also asked the companies to provide internal company data to the government in order to prove the each of their customers are receiving the appropriate Internet speeds that they are advertising.

In an email sent to Bloomberg, Cablevision spokesman Charlie Schueler said, "We are happy to provide any necessary performance information to the Attorney General as we do to our customers."

Time Warner Cable spokesman Bobby Amirshahi also sent an email to Bloomberg saying, "We're confident that we provide our customers that speeds and services we promise them and look forward to working with the AG to resolve this matter."

Regarding the matter, Verizon said, through its spokesman John Bonomo, it is "confident in the robust and reliable Internet speeds it delivers to subscribers." The company also added that it plans to cooperate with the Attorney General's office in order to resolve the issue.

According to The Washington Post, the issue surfaced after a significant number of customers started complaining about the Internet speeds delivered by the three companies. On top of that, a recently published public data from a third-party research firm showed that the Internet speed from the three companies, in some cases, did not meet their advertised speeds.

Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have until Nov. 8 to respond to the government's inquiry.