Tidewater Telecom Business Office

Tim Shackelford

Put it in the column of gotchas. We've been connected to Tidewater's fiber service since May 2021 under the federal assistance program to help with broadband costs during the pandemic. Got the 6 months of 100/100 free, then 6 months at $69.95. So far so good until the 1 year of the deal was up. June 2022's bill rolls around and all of a sudden there are fees related to a landline number (which we haven’t had in service since 2018). I called and they said, the phone service is part of the fiber bundle. And since we were no longer on their pandemic promotion and were moved to one of their standard plans, it's included whether we like it or not. No phone related charges on previous bills for the 100/100 service. So now we get an extra $12.88/month in taxes, fees, and surcharges related to a phone line we don’t need or use because it’s part of a bundle it can’t be unpaired from. Pretty sure in most cases a phone line is not needed for a fiber connection. So we've been automatically dropped to 50/10 service (which was completely expected), and I guess $81.83/mo for 50/10 service is just the cost of redundancy and prevention of lost productivity for our business in the event of a flaky connection with our other ISP. Just stinks that in May our service was $69.95 with $1.10 in taxes, surcharges, and fees ($71.05), and in June our service was still $69.95, but with $14.21 in taxes, surcharges, and fees ($81.83) due to a phone service we don't need being automatically bundled with the service. What I suspect is going on is they collect an annual subsidy from the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) for every land-line telephone on their network. They collect fees from their subscribers for something that they don't need or want only so that they can ALSO collect free money from the Federal government. Shady shameless money grab. But as they say, the best ISP is always the one you don't have. (Yes there is a difference in the math here, but that's because June's bill accounts for pro-ration of spit time between the two different plans.)

Christopher Hooper

Clearly, Tidewater is the worst choice of ISP. But wait! I don't have a choice. I live in one of those special areas that are MONOPOLIZED by a local ISP and charge ridiculous prices just because they can. I pay over 5 times what I should for the speed they deliver. $100/mo for 10 mbps DSL. The instant another option is available, I am gone, as I am sure many other people will be. Truly, Tidewater is the provider of last resort. Edit: STARLINK is now available! For the same price as Tidewater DSL 10 mbps, you can get UP TO 250 mbps with average speeds of 150 mbps and latency of 35 ms!! Get STARLINK and DROP TIDEWATER

Jerry Packard

We arrived at our camp recently and on the day of our arrival a Fedex truck took out the telephone line. We called Tidewater and reported the problem. We went grocery shopping and when we returned it was up and working. Fantastic service, highly recommended.

nrthnlghts1

Gave us consistent service for two years in a place that is limited in high speed internet options. They service the west end of Burkettville Rd If that helps anyone in Appleton.