West Virginia Public Service Commission Approves Full Amount
Requested
CHARLESTON, W.Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The West Virginia Public Service Commission (West Virginia PSC) has
granted release of $29.1 million to Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:
FTR) from two separate escrow accounts.
Frontier asked for the release from the West Virginia PSC for $23.7
million from a service quality escrow account and another $5.4 million
from a broadband escrow account, said Dana Waldo, senior vice president
and general manager. The PSC granted Frontier’s requests in full.
The West Virginia PSC established the two escrow accounts in 2010 as
part of Frontier’s acquisition of Verizon markets in West Virginia.
Verizon funded a service quality account at $72.4 million. Frontier
pledged $48 million toward broadband deployment in a separate account.
The Commission has discretion on whether to reimburse Frontier from
those accounts.
“Frontier has worked diligently to strengthen our networks and provide
our customers with the best possible communications services,” Waldo
said. “At the same time, we have extended our broadband network in the
West Virginia markets we acquired from Verizon in 2010 from 62 percent
of the households to more than 83 percent.
“We appreciate that the Commission, following its ongoing review of our
performance, granted us the full amount of the escrowed funds we
requested,” said Waldo, who noted the money reimburses Frontier for
investments it already has made in its network.
Waldo said Frontier’s investments in the networks have paid dividends.
“As a result of Frontier’s continued investments, the telecommunications
network in West Virginia is in much better condition to withstand the
effects of natural disasters, such as this summer’s storms and last
week’s snowstorm,” Waldo said. “Including the unprecedented impact of
these storms, total network troubles for the past 12 months are 22
percent lower than during the year before Frontier acquired the West
Virginia service area.”
In its filing, the PSC noted that it is satisfied with the current pace
of service quality improvement and that its staff had reported
improvements in Frontier’s service quality measurements.
About Frontier Communications
Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: FTR), is an S&P 500 company
and is included in the FORTUNE 500 list of America’s largest
corporations. Frontier offers broadband, voice, satellite video,
wireless Internet data access, entertainment services like TumTiki.com,
data security solutions, bundled offerings and specialized bundles for
residential customers, small businesses and home offices and advanced
business communications for medium and large businesses in 27 states.
Frontier’s approximately 15,300 employees are based entirely in the
United States. More information is available at www.frontier.com.
Frontier Communications Corporation
Dan Page, 304-344-7463 (Office)
304-590-4062
(Mobile)
dan.page@ftr.com
www.frontier.com
Source: Frontier Communications Corporation