Frontier Reorg Gets Pa. OK, Needs 2 More States
Worker and consumer groups sought to tighten conditions on Frontier Communications’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization as the list of remaining state OKs dwindled to two. The deal got FCC and West Virginia approvals last week (see 2101150018 and 2101140032). The…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said Tuesday the deal may move forward with Frontier’s voluntary commitments, including $50 million over four years on service quality, maintenance and upgrades, and fiber to at least 15,000 locations by 2028. The promises “adequately address the troubling trend regarding Frontier’s infraction rate,” PUC Secretary Rosemary Chiavetta wrote in docket A-2020-3020004. Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) plans to vote Feb. 3 on last week’s draft decision. Attorney General William Tong (D) mostly supports proposed conditions, especially requiring fiber to 100,000 more customers by 2025, he commented Wednesday in docket 20-04-31. Tong urged PURA to lengthen to five years from two the term of a jobs condition not to permit involuntary attrition of its workforce or moving the corporate headquarters. Communications Workers of America said Connecticut isn’t getting as good a deal as California or West Virginia. Require Frontier to deploy fiber to 200,000 locations, spend at least $400 million in capital by 2025 and keep technician and customer service jobs, CWA said. Frontier supported the PURA draft even though it said the headquarters requirement may exceed the state regulator’s jurisdiction. Require the telco to address consumer complaints about copper service problems and call center performance and to target fiber commitments, AARP said. “Absent a more specific commitment, Frontier [could] focus on large businesses, and the most profitable locations.” At the California Public Utilities Commission, where a vote is expected in March, the Greenlining Institute and Center for Accessible Technology commented Wednesday that Frontier’s settlement with CWA and other consumer advocates “fails to ensure that the transaction will specifically benefit communities of color and persons with disabilities.” Those groups aren’t necessarily covered by a condition for low-income neighborhoods, they said in docket A.20-05-010. Adopt that settlement and two separate ones with the Yurok Tribe and California Emerging Technology Fund, the carrier urged. The tribe supports the CWA and CETF pacts if its own agreement is accepted, it said here and here. Comments on the Yurok settlement are due Jan. 27, ruled Administrative Law Judge Peter Wercinski.