Rural Montana customers of CenturyLink have gone without service for weeks at a time, particularly in Wibaux County, where the corporate descendent of Qwest Corporation also doesn’t provide broadband speeds fast enough to support video streaming.

“The company’s failure to date to invest in a modern network for all Montana customers should not be rewarded with a waiver that allows CentryLink to provide inferior service to certain customers indefinitely,” Brown argued in comments aimed at CenturyLink’s request for a stay.