The Illinois Commerce Commission's (ICC) decision to approve the sale of Verizon's landline operations in Illinois to Frontier Communications could fail to protect the public interest and may jeopardize future access to high speed services.
The decision flies in the face of a very strong recommendation to deny the sale made by Illinois Administrative Law Judge Lisa M. Tapia. In a March 9 proposed order on the Verizon-Frontier application, Tapia wrote: "the proposed reorganization will diminish Frontier's ability to provide adequate, reliable, efficient, safe and least-cost public utility service; and will significantly impair Frontier's ability to raise necessary capital on reasonable terms and to maintain a reasonable capital structure…"
"We have been concerned from the beginning about the impact of this proposed merger on Frontier's financial stability given the enormous debt that it would incur," said Ron Kastner, Business Manager of Local 21, the largest IBEW telecom union in Illinois. "We are deeply disappointed that the ICC has made a ruling that contradicts the judge's recommendation."
The ICC decision means that only regulators at the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Federal Communications Commission have the power to stop approval of the deal.
"This is discouraging news to everyone concerned about the future of telecommunications in rural America," said Ron Collins, Vice President for CWA's District Two who has been leading the campaign against the sale in West Virginia. "We are not stopping our fight against this deal. Verizon's landlines in West Virginia cover virtually the entire state and it is the former Bell System carrier. Because of Frontier's financial weakness, the entire state of West Virginia would be affected if this deal were to close. That is very different than Verizon's and Frontier's relatively small presence in the states that have approved the transaction so far."
Union intervenors may have more comments on the ICC decision after the written order is made public.
More information about why citizens are mobilizing to stop the Verizon sale to Frontier is at: www.verizonfrontierdeal.org. For information about ending the digital divide visit: www.speedmatters.org.
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