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 milliontoFrontier Communications(NYSE:FTR, news, filings) from two separate escrow accounts.
Frontier asked for the release from the West Virginia PSC for$23.7 millionfrom a service quality escrow account and another$5.4 millionfrom a broadband escrow account, saidDana 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 inWest Virginia. Verizon funded a service quality account at$72.4 million. Frontier pledged$48 milliontoward 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 theWest Virginiamarkets 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 inWest Virginiais 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 theWest Virginiaservice 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 CorporationDan Page, 304-344-7463 (Office) 304-590-4062 (Mobile) dan.page@ftr.com www.frontier.com
Source:Frontier Communications Corporation
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