Broadband Demand During COVID-19 Adds Customer Support Challenges, Astrea GM Says

Older customers in its largely rural footprint adopted technologies including broadband "at an alarming rate" during the pandemic, said Astrea Vice President-General Manager Cory Heigl during a Fiber Broadband Association webinar Thursday. "We had to provide a lot of education," he said, and customer support conversations with an older demographic can be more complex. The reduced visibility into customers' households during the pandemic presented challenges in providing customer service, he said. Educational tools through social media, website videos and apps help, Heigl said. "We're really excited about call deflection" when customers who resolve problems through online tools don't need to call. The pandemic has prompted such moves at ISPs (see 2004100038).