Fayette residents who have

problems with AT&T Broadband cable service are getting more attention

now, says acting County Manager Chris Cofty.

"The officers assigned

to Fayette County... have both personally contacted people who have problems,"

said Cofty, "and that just makes me feel better."

AT&T, which recently took

over the local cable service after buying out MediaOne and Intermedia,

is working to replace all 800 miles of antiquated coaxial cable in Fayette

with state-of-the-art fiber optic equipment. The long-term result will

be better reception and more choices for local customers, but the short-term

result has been an explosion in complaints as the construction causes

interruptions in service and poor reception.

Cofty and other county officials

met with company representatives recently after Cofty had complained that

local residents were getting poor service and rude treatment and the company's

construction work in Fayette was being done improperly without permits.

The firm has put in place a

new system for dealing with complaints and is working with county officials

to make sure its construction work doesn't damage county property, Cofty

said.

"They are permitting correctly

now, and sending us on a daily basis reports on where they'll be working,"

he said, adding that the new guidelines call for the company to deal with

customer complaints that come through the county office in the same day.

"We've seen a decrease

in the number of complaints, but we are still getting complaints daily,"

he said.

Construction of the new lines

and facilities is scheduled for completion by the end of next month, but

a moratorium on further work issued by the Georgia Department of Transportation

may put that deadline in jeopardy, said Cofty.

DOT and AT&T have come

to an impasse because the agency feels the company should pay fees to

use its rights of way for cable installation, and AT&T disagrees.

The delay, though, may be a

blessing in disguise. "Maybe they'll go a little bit slower and not

upset as many people at one time," he said.

In addition to improving service

and improving communication with the county, the company has agreed to

fix any problems that have occurred due to earlier installation of lines

without getting permits, Cofty said. But those retroactive concerns will

take a back seat to completing the rebuild and solving customers' problems,

he said.

"These are things I can

work with them on," he said.