TIPTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Comcast customers in Tipton County could lose their cable and internet service at the end of the month due to a billing issue between the cable provider and the Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation.

STEMC, which owns many of the utility poles in Tipton County, said Comcast hasn’t been paying for use of those poles like it’s supposed to and now they want to  take down Comcast’s lines if it isn’t paid by June 28.

STEMC, which has roughly 50,000 customers, said Comcast owes it about $176,000.

“We’ve been going back and forth with them for going on three years now trying to get payment out of them,” said STEMC CFO Scott Sims.

Sims said he sent Comcast a 30-day final notice to pay at the end of May.

If the money isn’t paid by June 28, Sims said STEMC will begin taking down Comcast’s lines on June 29, meaning Comcast customers in Covington and other parts of Tipton County would lose their cable and internet service.

A Comcast representative told WREG they have been trying to resolve the issue for some time now.

They said back in 2015, STEMC billed the company double what they usually do, saying it had discovered previously unbilled pole attachments.

Comcast said at the time they asked for evidence supporting the discovery, but it was not provided until June 2017.

“Since receiving that information, we have completed our own audit and are taking the appropriate next steps to arrange for payment in the correct amount,” Comcast said in a released statement. “We look forward to working with STEMC to resolve this issue quickly and ensure that our mutual customers’ services are not disrupted.”