Merger won’t impact price
By Ashley Hill, ahill@mariettatimes.comFact Box
About the merger:
Frontier would provide land line telephone service to current Verizon customers in Barlow, Beverly, Lowell, Lower Salem and Watertown.
The change would not affect Verizon wireless customers.
The PUCO will decide whether to approve the merger sometime in 2010.
A Frontier spokesman said prices will not increase as a result of the merger.
The potential merger of Frontier Communications Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. will not result in a price increase, a Frontier official said, but some local officials are concerned about what it could mean for service.
In May, Frontier and Verizon filed a merger request with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. In June, the PUCO's five commissioners suspended the application so it could be further reviewed and discussed.
"If the commission hadn't taken action to say they wanted to look at this, it would have been automatically approved in 30 days," said Matt Butler, PUCO spokesman. "It's not a requirement that they hold hearings in a merger case."
In August and September, six public hearings were held across the state, two of which were in Athens and Portsmouth.
"That's an opportunity for the public to provide input on the company's application and their experiences as a customer," said Butler. "There aren't more hearings right now. We're at the point where the commission will look at the application and they'll make a decision sometime next year."
Butler pointed out that the potential merger in no way affects Verizon's wireless services and Frontier would not acquire that segment of the company.
A news release from the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel indicates that Verizon provides telephone services to 435,000 residential customers in 77 of the state's 88 counties. Frontier currently serves 480 residential customers in Williams County, in the northwestern region of the state. Ohio is one of 24 states in which Frontier now provides telephone service.
Steven Crosby, Frontier's senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs and public relations, said the merger will not result in an increase in current Verizon customers' bills.
"We recognize there is competition out there, and we are fierce competitors," he said. "I don't expect increases given the competitive environment and that we want to keep and grow our customer base, not lose them."
During an October meeting of the Lower Salem Village Council, the group passed a resolution objecting to the merger. The mayor of the village, Lloyd Ullman, sent a letter to PUCO outlining the council's arguments.
The first issue cited is a concern that Frontier is not financially stable enough to provide additional broadband and better service. Crosby said that is not the case.
"In addition to getting the (Verizon) employees, we're getting billions of dollars in revenues. We're borrowing some money, but the revenue far outweighs anything we're borrowing," he said.
Crosby added that Frontier's focus is on small towns and rural areas and one of its hallmarks is the deployment of broadband.
The letter also questions whether or not Frontier will be able to handle a natural disaster or other disruption to the phone lines in the Lower Salem area.
"We've been in business for almost 75 years, and we operate currently in 24 states," said Crosby. "We've dealt with many, many difficult situations."
Finally, the letter questions whether Frontier will follow through with its promises.
"All I can say is that we have a very good reputation and we have lived by our commitments in the past," said Crosby. "This isn't the only transaction we've done over the years."
Butler said the commission will take such concerns into consideration.
Last week, an agreement was filed by the two companies, the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel and the PUCO staff (separate from the commissioners) to allow the merger to take place.
"I think the key thing for people to understand is that it's land lines only and also the agreement that was filed last week doesn't bind the commission in any way," said Butler.
Crosby said the company intends to purchase Verizon assets in 14 additional states.
"Of the 14 states, we need approval in nine of 14," he said. "In the other five states... they don't require it."
Crosby noted that California, Nevada, and South Carolina have already approved the transaction.
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boxerman
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12-15-09 2:32 PM
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how can you tell when they are not telling the truth there lips are moving
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MT1234
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12-15-09 10:08 AM
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"Steven Crosby, Frontier's senior vice president of government and regulatory affairs and public relations, said the merger will not result in an increase in current Verizon customers' bills." No, the merger might not, but increased services will; wait and see.
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