Birch waives service charges in aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Birch Communications, a CLEC serving a mix of SMBs and residential customers, on Thursday announced that it will waive service charges for any of its customers that suffered damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Vincent M. Oddo, Birch president and CEO, said in a press release that customers "can contact us for bill relief and to coordinate alternate arrangements for their telephone service (including rerouting phone numbers for a temporary period of time), broadband service, or any other services during this rebuilding time."

Although Birch provides services in 38 states, the majority of the customers affected by the storm are in 12 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Laura Wagner, Marketing Manager for Birch, told FierceTelecom that the provider has a "75 percent increase in trouble tickets in the affected areas," something that would make sense given the impact the storm has had on these areas.

The CLEC said any customer that was affected by the storm can call their customer service number at 888-772-4724 to get information on the fee waiver and service restoration issues.

For more:
- see the release

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