SELMA —Dropped signals. Frozen pictures on the screen. High rates. Incompetent technicians. Missed installation.

These are some of the complaints Selma residents had about the service from Charter Communications.

About two dozen customers of Charter Communications attended a public hearing Thursday evening at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center to talk about the services offered by the company.

Federal law allows the franchising authority of a cable company to hold a public to identify future cable-related community needs and review the performance of the cable operator. These hearings must occur during the six-month period which begins the 36th month before the franchise expires.

Skip James, governmental relations representative for Charter, attended the meeting. He explained the company has 18 call centers that specialize in different aspects of the company’s services. This is the reason why Selma residents cannot call into the local office and receive help or information.

James said Charter customers here receive their services through a state-of-the-art system complete with fiber optics.

Charter is moving toward a two hour wait for service, instead of the four hour window. “If it hasn’t been done here yet it will be shortly,” James told the audience.