Thompsons Station Residents Claim Their Cable Company Has A Monopoly

A group of Thompsons Station residents have filed a federal class-action lawsuit over slow and unreliable Internet service. They’re accusing their provider of running a monopoly.

The homeowners associations for three neighborhoods built by Carbine & Associates and Hood Development require everyone to use Crystal Clear Technologies, an upstart service provider that the lawsuit alleges is controlled by the developers. The plaintiffs have been
complaining for months.

Attorney Ben Gastel is representing the residents, who are seeking class-action status, and says they have no choice but to pay for Crystal Clear service, even if they did want to try another provider
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“I think your cable company is one of those people that everybody loves to hate,” Gastel says. “But it’s certainly a different ball game when you can’t even switch to a different cable operator that you might also equally hate.”

The claims are made under the Sherman Antitrust Act, citing “self-dealing and unjust enrichment.”

The attorney representing the developer and Crystal Clear Technologies says the class-action lawsuit has no merit and that some of the assertions are “factually wrong.”

The Tennessean reports the legal dispute highlights the difficulty of getting reliable Internet service in rural parts of fast-growing Williamson County. Thompsons Station recently passed an ordinance that lays out expectations for telecom providers. The city has also lobbied to allow rural municipalities to set up their own service providers.