Frontier gained approval from the Ohio public services commission for their purchase of Verizon wireline assets in that state. Ohio joins California, Nevada, and South Carolina in approval for the Verizon transaction. Frontier needs approval from five additional states. With the four they already have, they are almost half way there, at least as it relates to state approvals. They will still need federal approval from the FCC.
“Upon completion of the transaction, Ohio will be Frontier’s fifth largest state and we will be ready to deliver great products and services to our new customers,” said Dan McCarthy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Frontier. Separate agreements with Comcast of Ohio and Cincinnati Bell were negotiated to gain Ohio’s approval.
Frontier has received opposition within some of the remaining states, including West Virginia. But the acquisition is expected to close, even with the bad press of Verizon’s other rural telecom divestment fiasco – namely FairPoint. The transaction is expected to close sometime in 2Q10.
