Verizon and Frontier Argue Against Further California Fiber Conditions
Verizon and Frontier Communications are urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject calls by advocacy groups for what the carriers are calling "near-ubiquitous fiber buildout obligations and overreaching compliance measures." In reply comments posted Tuesday, the companies urged the CPUC to approve Verizon's proposed purchase of Frontier. The CPUC is scheduled to vote on it Thursday.
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Verizon and Frontier said The Utility Reform Network (TURN) has suggested that the newly combined company be required to deploy fiber to more than 900,000 locations beyond those in the proposed approval of the deal (see 2512150008). "This extraordinary demand," when combined with other proposed conditions, "would entail near-ubiquitous fiber deployment in Frontier’s territory," the carriers said, noting that deploying fiber to 960,000 non-fiber locations in Frontier's California footprint would cost an estimated $7 billion. Proposed mitigation measures need to be tied to a harm caused by the transaction, but TURN hasn't identified any such harm, they said. Instead, the deal "will bring only benefits that are enhanced by the settlement agreements," including Verizon adding 250 5G-ready macro cellsites and 75,000 new fiber passings.
Verizon and Frontier also criticized a call by the Center for Accessible Technology that the CPUC be directed to develop an enforcement program. The center is making a "spurious claim that Verizon has a record of noncompliance with Commission decisions," they said.