West Virginia PSC Picks Schumaker & Co. to Audit Frontier
The West Virginia Public Service Commission picked Schumaker and Co. to audit Frontier Communications and Citizens Telecommunications, with work to start as soon as possible and completion within six months. The PSC noted it last month rejected the choice of…
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Frontier (see 1906190037), which also owns Citizens. "After receiving numerous and increasing complaints regarding Frontier’s quality of service, including concerns from emergency services, 911 centers and senior citizens," on Aug. 30, the PSC recounted Thursday, the regulator "ordered a focused management audit of Frontier to be conducted by a qualified outside auditing firm identified through a request for proposals and paid for by Frontier." It'll give both sides "a comprehensive ability to understand and prioritize the challenges facing Frontier." A preliminary summary is due on Day 120, draft report Day 150 and final one on 180, in case 18-0291-T-P. The telco "engaged in good faith in the bid award process as ordered by the PSC and will fully comply fully" with the audit, its spokesperson emailed Friday. "The expectation is that the audit will give the Commission the ability to understand and prioritize challenges. One key problem the Commission and Frontier must resolve together is that while Frontier only serves about ten percent of the 2.26 million telephone lines in West Virginia, Frontier has 100 percent of the obligation to provide traditional telephone voice service to customers in the most rural, remote, and high-cost areas."