West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw is opposed to Frontier’s proposed purchase of all of Verizon’s West Virginia access lines, and he’s not afraid to tell you so. The Charleston Gazette (by way of BroadbandReports.com) reports the Attorney General sent a letter to West Virginia’s public service commission opposing the acquisition citing numerous reasons why, including potential labor unrest, job losses, and inadequate financial might.
McGraw cites the ‘graveyard’ of past Verizon asset acquirers, two of whom are now in bankruptcy. Frontier doesn’t share his outlook and refutes just about every point saying they expect to increase jobs in West Virginia and their financial balance statement is ‘heads and tails’ better than FairPoint’s, the poster child of failed Verizon wireline acquirers. To be fair, FairPoint is not in bankruptcy and appears to be swallowing it’s Verizon lumps to see another day.
Others also oppose the Frontier-Verizon deal, including the public service commission in Ohio. For Frontier, the timing couldn’t be worse. Rightly or wrongly, Frontier is being painted with the FairPoint brush. While the fear may be unjustified, it certainly is understandable.
