CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Some key state regulatory officials are opposing Frontier Communications Corp.’s plan to buy Verizon’s wire line business in West Virginia and 13 other states.
The Public Service Commission’s staff and Consumer Advocate Division recommended the merger’s rejection in filings Monday with the PSC.
“It’s not in the best interest of telephone customers in West Virginia,” said PSC Consumer Advocate Byron Harris. “There’s no way you can approve a plan like this when the company making the acquisition doesn’t know how it’s going to serve all its customers.”
Harris said the Stamford, Conn.-based Frontier lacks the financial resources to make the $5.3 billion deal and correct service issues with Verizon’s telephone lines in West Virginia.
Verizon Communications announced in May that it had reached a deal to sell about 4.8 million residential and business telephone lines and about 1 million broadband connections to Frontier Communications. Frontier currently has about 2.3 million customers.
