W.Va. watchdog suggests Verizon customers keep close tabs on Frontier purchase

Frontier believes it will be a success in W.Va.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission’s consumer advocate wants West Virginia residents to monitor Frontier Communication’s takeover of Verizon West Virginia’s long-distance accounts.

Byron Harris said it’s too soon to tell how much Verizon’s current landline customers will benefit from the sale, which was approved Thursday by the PSC.

The approval came despite opposition from Harris, the PSC’s staff and the Communications Workers of America. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and other states have supported the proposal.

Critics have questioned whether Stamford, Conn.-based Frontier had the financial resources to correct service issues with Verizon’s telephone lines in West Virginia.

“There are many areas of West Virginia that will always be dependent on landlines, absent some sea of change in technology,” Harris said Friday. “Those are the people I’m most concerned about. They’re the truly captive customers of now Verizon and, in the future, Frontier.”

West Virginia, a state of 1.8 million residents, will become Frontier’s largest market with 617,000 customers.

Frontier spokesman Steve Crosby said Friday the company already serves 140,000 customers in West Virginia, had $2.1 billion in 2009 revenues and 2.3 million customers across the country.

“We’re not getting credit for the good work we’ve done,” Crosby said. “We’ve proven that we are a financial sound company. And, if history repeats itself, we will be successful with the remainder of West Virginia (landlines) that we are purchasing from Verizon. We should be very successful.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be hiccups along the way. But we’re doing everything we possibly can.”

Verizon had agreed to sell 4.8 million landlines in 14 states to Frontier for $8.6 billion.

The West Virginia sale, which still must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, requires Frontier to invest $231 million over the next three years, increase broadband availability to at least 85 percent of households in Verizon’s service area within four years — another $48 million expense.

Frontier also must honor Verizon pledges to improve service quality and adopt Verizon’s pricing and contracts.

Harris noted the PSC’s order allows Verizon customers to opt out of bundled telephone, Internet and television services without penalty if Frontier doesn’t offer a similar package.

Harris doesn’t feel residents should be worried about Frontier services, but he’s not sure all will be fine, either.

“Be mindful of your service,” he said.

Despite the opposition to the sale, Harris believes the PSC’s approval was about balance.

“The commission determined they would rather have a company that is committed to serving West Virginia, a company that is establishing its regional headquarters here,” he said. “It’s not black and white. It’s a matter of what weight you put on the various issues.”

Shares of Frontier slid 14 cents to $7.81 in afternoon trading Friday. Shares of Verizon rose 1 cent to $28.70.