MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly 400 people have attended a series of public hearings across Minnesota concerning complaints about Frontier Communications.

The state Public Utilities Commission is investigating the phone and internet company after hundreds of complaints about customer service, billing practices and service quality.

Ceylon City Councilman John Gibeau says if small towns don’t have necessary service, they won’t survive.

Minnesota Public Radio reports Frontier representatives also have attended the hearings, and apologized for problems.

The telecommunications company serves more than 90,000 Minnesota customers. The company has said it serves some of the state’s “most rural, high-cost, and hard-to-serve communities.”