West Virginia Should Undo Approval of Frontier/Verizon Deal, State Consumer Advocate Says
West Virginia’s Public Service Commission should reconsider its approval of the deal between Frontier and Verizon, the commission’s Consumer Advocate Division said in a motion for reconsideration filed late Monday. Soon after West Virginia, the last state among eight whose approval was needed for closing, gave its assent, the FCC approved the 14-state transaction, which Frontier hopes to close by June 30 (CD May 21 p11). Consumer Advocate Division Director Byron Harris was vocal in opposing the transaction before the state regulator acted.
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The advocate urged the commission to reverse its refusal to order a third-party audit before the transition of the cutover mechanism from Verizon to Frontier control of networks in West Virginia. In addition, the consumer office wants to broaden a requirement that the companies waive early termination fees charged customers on bundled service plans and that Frontier reimburse any such fees or other non-recurring charges connected with Verizon’s contract with Direct TV. Notice of those changes should come in some form other than a bill insert, the advocate said.
"The Commission should also clarify that advance notice/justification to the Commission of staffing reductions of 5 percent or greater must apply in the aggregate as well as to a single planned cutback that reaches the specified threshold,” the advocate’s office said. “Finally, the Commission should make clear that its ban on the use of federal stimulus funding to meet or offset the $48 million broadband investment requirements also applies to stimulus funding that is distributed through state agencies.”
The advocate cited phone service to 2,000 Mineral County, W. Va., residents served by Verizon Maryland. Harris doesn’t want to scuttle the deal but does want to make sure these customers and others aren’t short-changed, he said in comments to West Virginia media. His office said Verizon has a contract with DirecTV but Frontier does not.
The commission made no response to the advocate’s motion for reconsideration due to its arrival late Monday afternoon, a commission spokeswoman told us Tuesday by e-mail. But Frontier and Verizon were swift to condemn the office’s petition.
Frontier will absorb all Verizon contracts, including the arrangement with DirecTV, Frontier spokesman Steven Crosby said, and Frontier has a contract with Dish. The Mineral County matter is “a non-issue,” Crosby said: “These approximately 2,000 customers are served by a remote switch connecting to a host switch located in Maryland. Verizon has either completed or is close to completing the rehoming so the remote switch is connected to a West Virginia switch."
The West Virginia commission’s approval is “in the best interests of the state’s consumers and businesses,” Crosby said. The West Virginia regulator’s decision is consistent with those by counterparts in all other affected states, he added.
Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell called the consumer advocate’s motion needless, urging that the commission reject it “so West Virginians can realize the benefits of the Verizon-Frontier transaction sooner rather than later.” He said the commission’s order came “after a lengthy review” and it “made the right call.”