Athens residents will be given a chance to voice their opinions regarding a deal between Verizon Communications and Frontier Communications at a hearing held by the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC).
The hearing will allow area phone customers to express their feelings about the transfer of 4.8 million telephone access lines across 14 states, including Ohio, from Verizon to Frontier.
Frontier, a Connecticut-based telecommunications provider that deals exclusively in rural areas, agreed in May to buy the lines for $8.6 billion. The company will triple in size, increasing its current property of 2.3 million nationwide access lines to more than 7 million.
Wireless lines will not be affected.
In Ohio, Frontier will increase its service from its current 600 residents to more than 600,000. If the deal is approved, it will become the largest rural telecom provider in the nation.
Both parties expect the transaction to be complete in the second
quarter of 2010.
Ryan Lippe, a senior communications specialist at the OCC, said some customers doubt Frontier has the breadth or financial stability to serve their best interests.
We've already seen some problems with Verizon's service quality
especially in the past year or two Lippe said. We're concerned whether Frontier is capable of making improvements.
Lippe said those who oppose the merger don't want to repeat the Verizon/FairPoint Communications deal of past years.
Frontier officials reject the comparison, saying their company is larger and has approached the deal with more caution than previous companies dealing with Verizon.
In early 2007, Verizon announced it would sell most of its access lines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to FairPoint, another small telecommunications provider.
Reports of poor customer service, billing problems, sluggish service and Emergency 911 problems tarnished the company's reputation. Maine fined FairPoint $25,000 for the 911 issues and Vermont is considering revoking the company's right to operate within its borders.
Like FairPoint, Frontier is expanding itself and taking on debt. The $2.4 billion company's gross debt will increase by 78 percent, from $4.5 million to $8 million.
But Frontier's debt as a percentage of gross income has dropped from 3.8 percent to 2.6 percent, said Steven Crosby, Frontier's senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs.
The OCC already has filed in opposition to the deal and warned the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to look closely at the merger. Testimonies of Ohio residents at scheduled hearings will be considered when PUCO decides whether or not it will allow the transaction.
On Sept. 21, the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, of which the OCC is a member, asked the Federal Communications Commission to reject the proposed merger. The FCC has yet to decide on the matter.
The OCC hearing in Athens will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Athens Community Center.
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Ben White
