New York State PSC Approves Verizon/Frontier With Conditions; Calif. PUC Gets Endorsement
The New York State Public Service Commission approved Verizon’s purchase of Frontier, it said in a news release and order Thursday. California's public utilities advocate endorsed the deal in a filing Wednesday.
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Verizon agreed to several conditions to secure approval, including spending a total of $150 million on efforts such as digital inclusion and expansion of high-speed broadband to underserved communities, the N.Y. release said. “The Commission expects the Transaction to produce an incremental net benefit to New York customers, while mitigating those identified risks and detriments associated with the Transaction,” said the order approving the deal.
“This transaction will expand fiber-based broadband services to the underserved and unserved,” said Commission Chair Rory Christian in the release. “It will create a company with a stronger financial position that will bring improvements to business operations, optimize Frontier's networks, expand service offerings, and improve service quality to existing customers.”
As part of the $150 million, Verizon committed to spending $40 million within five years of the deal’s close to extend high-speed broadband to underserved addresses and $90 million to pass additional “overbuild” addresses in the New York service territories of both Verizon and Frontier. That will have benefits “such as enhanced consumer choice, innovation of new products and services, improved operations by providers, and competitive rates,” the release said. Verizon also committed to investing $20 million in New York “to support efforts aimed at closing the digital divide and advancing digital inclusion.”
Other conditions on the deal include network reliability commitments such as battery backup requirements, mandates to inform consumers about affordability programs, and investments in education and small businesses, the order said.
In California, the state Public Utilities Commission's Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates) said the proposed conditions on Verizon's purchase of Frontier Communications will mean more than 75,000 new fiber connections in California on top of Frontier’s current build plans, with priority given to low-income areas. In an ex parte filing, Cal Advocates said it discussed the proposed conditions with CPUC Commissioners John Reynolds and Darcie Houck, urging the commission to adopt the settlement agreement. That agreement will also bring 250 wireless macro cellsites beyond the existing 2026 plan, including 85 towers in unserved areas to further expand broadband access, Cal Advocates said. In addition, it will mean a 10-year low-income offering at $20 or the lowest price available in any other U.S. state, whichever is less.
A CPUC administrative law judge is recommending the commissioners approve Verizon/Frontier with conditions including terms in the Cal Advocates settlement agreement (see 2512150008).