CenturyLink customer to county commissioner: ‘It’s a mess in Wibaux’, Montana

“I don’t know what your authority is exactly, but if you can force them to actually provide the service they’re supposed to provide or allow somebody else to do it, it would be amazing, because it is dangerous,” Stenson said.

“If we get a sprinkle of rain, we start getting buzzing noises,” Hinebauch said. “If we have a nice rain, our phone might go completely out for days, and sometimes, the phone will start ringing randomly, usually at two o’clock in the morning.”

At times, telephones will dial 9-1-1 on their own, with no emergency, CenturyLink customers said Tuesday to the Montana Public Service Commission. Other times, customers can’t get service at all and have to drive to get connected to a cell tower.

Mary Adele Stenson said CenturyLink does not understand rural Montana, and she and other residents of the county at the eastern border of the state asked Commissioners for help.