Windstream Announces President of Operations for Ga.

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Windstream will now have a new president of operations for Georgia.

Last week, the telecommunications company announced they have named Jarrod (“J”) Berkshire to that position.

Last month, Windstream officials announced they had created the position as a way to better focus on consumer relations in Georgia.

In his new role, Berkshire will be based in Dalton and oversee the nearly 450 managers and technicians who operate Windstream’s voice and broadband network in the state.

There are about 620,000 households and thousands of businesses in Windstream’s Georgia service areas.

Berkshire said his priority in his new position is to continue to build good customer service.

“Really continuing to build trust and further our commitment to improvements in Georgia,” Berkshire said. “I think my appointment serves as a reflection of Windstream’s strong commitment to Georgia as as one of our largest consumer markets. So my role is to provide local leadership to Windstream’s operations team as well as serving as a single point of accountability for customers and our public officials.”

Those public officials include 9th District U.S. Representative Doug Collins, who has been critical of Windstream’s poor customer service, noting most of the complaints that come to his Gainesville office are from angry Windstream customers.

In 2014, Windstream received millions of federal taxpayer dollars from the Phase II Connect America Fund to upgrade its system to fiber optic from copper and improve its Internet speeds.

In addition to that, the company received preferred tax status from the Internal Revenue Service, resulting in a savings for the company of some $3 billion.

Collins asked for a detailed report from Windstream on how that money has been utilized in his 9th District.

In response, Berkshire said the company has made vast improvements to its telephone and Internet networks.

“The Georgia team is really working hard to make sure our network is capable of meeting the explosive growth in Internet usage,” he said. “93% of Georgia customers are served by fiber back facilities today and 75% of those households receive 10mbps or greater and that is expected to increase to 84% by the end of 2016. The numbers speak for themselves and we’re really making strides to continue to further our comittment in the communities.”

Berkshire, a resident of Ringgold, Georgia, was previously director of outside plant engineering for Windstream’s seven-state southeast region and has been with Windstream for 16 years.