Arizona Corporation Commission members criticized Frontier Communications' 911 reliability, at a hybrid livestream and in-person meeting Tuesday. Commissioners voted 5-0 to investigate the carrier on recent 911 service outages (see 2106020063). “This is an urgent situation,” said ACC Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson (R). Commissioner Sandra Kennedy (D) said she isn’t surprised by Frontier's problems. When the probe is done, the commission should act “very strongly and not just do something to be doing it,” she said. Frontier must acknowledge this is a “public relations problem of enormous proportion,” said Commissioner Jim O’Connor (R). “Your house is burning down.” Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Allison Ellis apologized for the company’s recent service issues and said the company is reviewing its network and systems to better support 911, with one strategy to find ways to increase redundancy. Public safety officials calling in later appeared unsatisfied. “To hear that they're going to do something is, I guess, OK,” but the problems are a “severe public safety concern,” said Saint Johns Police Department Chief Lance Spivey. He cited eight 911 failures there since 2017. Rural Arizonans “shouldn't have to worry about [if] 911 is going to work,” he said. In the past three years, the Navajo County Sheriffs Office submitted about 150 service tickets to Frontier about problems, said Lt. Alden Whipple. Outages affecting all of northeastern Arizona lasted hours, he said: “It’s just unacceptable.”

Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson called for an investigation into Frontier regarding 911 service outages. Marquez Peterson said Frontier customers have faced 19 outages since April 2020, totaling more than 130 hours. “These outages are egregious and unacceptable,” Marquez Peterson said: “We must get to the bottom of this.” The telco didn't comment Wednesday. The request to investigate Frontier will be discussed at the commission’s June 8 meeting, Marquez Peterson said.

The FTC, Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin sued Frontier for allegedly charging customers for DSL speeds it failed to deliver, said a news release Wednesday. They allege Frontier violated the FTC Act by subscribing customers to and charging them for a “higher and more costly level of internet service than Frontier actually provided or was capable of providing.” This “practice of providing slower-than-purchased DSL speeds” is “not limited to those made at or near the point of sale, but continue,” plaintiffs told the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The telco said the lawsuit is “without merit” and it plans a “vigorous defense” against the “baseless allegations.” The service "in some of the country’s most rural areas that often have challenging terrain, are more sparsely populated and are the most difficult to serve" has "many satisfied customers," it said.

The FTC, Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin sued Frontier for allegedly charging customers for DSL speeds it failed to deliver, said a news release Wednesday. They allege Frontier violated the FTC Act by subscribing customers to and charging them for a “higher and more costly level of internet service than Frontier actually provided or was capable of providing.” This “practice of providing slower-than-purchased DSL speeds” is “not limited to those made at or near the point of sale, but continue,” plaintiffs told the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The telco said the lawsuit is “without merit” and it plans a “vigorous defense” against the “baseless allegations.” The service "in some of the country’s most rural areas that often have challenging terrain, are more sparsely populated and are the most difficult to serve" has "many satisfied customers," it said.

ATIS hires Glenn Reynolds from iconectiv as vice president-technology policy and government relations ... VMware directors promote Raghu Raghuram to CEO and board member, effective June 1; Sumit Dhawan becomes president; Chief Operating Officer-Customer Operations Sanjay Poonen decides to leave the company; Zane Rowe has been interim CEO and continues as chief financial officer ... MediaKind taps Hulu/Disney’s Mark Ramberg as group vice president-products and Jeff Sherwin from Comcast as executive vice president-technology strategy and operations, both newly created roles.

ATIS hires Glenn Reynolds from iconectiv as vice president-technology policy and government relations ... VMware directors promote Raghu Raghuram to CEO and board member, effective June 1; Sumit Dhawan becomes president; Chief Operating Officer-Customer Operations Sanjay Poonen decides to leave the company; Zane Rowe has been interim CEO and continues as chief financial officer ... MediaKind taps Hulu/Disney’s Mark Ramberg as group vice president-products and Jeff Sherwin from Comcast as executive vice president-technology strategy and operations, both newly created roles.

The FCC cleared Frontier Communications’ bankruptcy reorganization Thursday with conditions. Frontier Communications promised fiber to states that waited to clear the bankrupt carrier's reorganization. Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) proposed conditional OK Tuesday. Frontier offered voluntary commitments to Pennsylvania commissioners last week and reached settlements last month in California and West Virginia. Decisions are expected in the coming weeks before April.

Consumer complaints about Frontier Communications' service quality have risen, according to state commission data obtained by Communications Daily. Regulators in 16 states provided data about 2015-19 complaints voluntarily or through Freedom of Information Act requests. Officials in some states with increasing complaints weren't surprised to see similar problems elsewhere. The telco said it works with state commissions to meet service quality metrics.

The U.S. semiconductor industry is preparing to lobby for billions of dollars in federal funding amid growing U.S. technology competition with China, according to a May 31 report in The Wall Street Journal. The lobbying efforts, outlined in a $37 billion draft proposal by the Semiconductor Industry Association, includes funding for a new U.S. chip factory and increased research subsidies, the report said. The SIA declined to comment.

Legislatures took up broadband bills in California and other states this week. Bills address grants or change state policies including for electric cooperatives. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the acute need to expand broadband access across the country,” and “some states have recognized -- and are responding to -- that need in their legislative responses to the public health crisis,” said Anna Read, Pew Charitable Trusts broadband researcher.