CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission will soon put a proposal from Verizon and Frontier Communications under the microscope that would give Frontier the green light to transfer control to Verizon in West Virginia.
PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane says the commission is going to have to take their time in looking over the proposal.
Charlotte Lane
“We will look at it very carefully, and of course, we never make up our mind in advance,” Lane said last week on MetroNews “Talkline” with Hoppy Kercheval. “We will look at this transaction very carefully and decide what we are going to do.
Frontier and Verizon announced in September that they would merge nationally, and Verizon would be the controlling company.
Lane says one of the main points the commission will consider is the advancements Verizon can make in the Mountain State.
“We will take a look at what Verizon can bring to the state, and right off the top of my head, it would appear that they could bring a lot of investment into the state to continue broadband, and of course, we are very, very interested in that,” Lane said.
Lane says that, through the process, the PSC’s top priority is bringing good service to those with Frontier already.
“Our biggest concern will be that the existing Frontier customers will continue to have good service,” Lane said.
Frontier has been designated as a carrier of last resort in the state, meaning landlines must be provided by Frontier to residents that want them. While landline phones are becoming more obsolete nationwide, Lane says they’re needed by many in West Virginia with no other options.
“There are lots of areas of the state where cell service is not available, so in those areas, a lot of people in West Virginia, they’re only access to telecommunications is Frontier. Our number one priority is to make sure that those customers are protected,” Lane said.
After adopting Frontier adopted a “fiber first” strategy in 2021, the company has taken on a significant amount of debt. This came directly after Frontier emerged from bankruptcy.
Lane says the PSC gets a healthy amount of complaints about Frontier and its service.
“We get lots of complaints about Frontier’s service, and a lot of the problem is Frontier has an aging infrastructure and appears to be putting more money into its fiber network than its copper network,” Lane said. “It’s mostly copper network that serves the landlines and the fiber network provides service for their broadband.”
According to Lane, the large decision will come within a year’s time.
“I think that Verizon wants this closed within a year, so we will work very diligently to be as expeditious as we can in looking at this whole transaction because if it means better service for West Virginians, then we want to accomplish that as quickly as we can,” Lane said.