Frontier gets OK to buy Lines from Verizon, Union Members Upset

By Ian Bell May 21, 2010

Federal regulators are giving Verizon Communications Inc. the green light to sell nearly 5 million phone lines outside of its core service areas to Frontier Communications Corp.

Friday’s approval by the Federal Communications Commission marks the final step for the $8.6 billion deal, announced more than a year ago. The transaction has already been cleared by antitrust regulators at the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, as well as by state regulators and local officials.

Verizon is selling 4.8 million residential and small business phone lines and 1 million broadband connections in rural and smaller urban markets to Frontier. In return for FCC approval, Frontier has pledged to make significant investments in high-speed Internet networks.

This will include Verizon Fios Internet, Phone and TV services. The deal will affect 14 states including Oregon, West Virginia and Ohio among others.

Union members are not happy with the sale and have been fighting the transaction arguing that Frontier is not financially stable enough to continue to provide the same level of services and service that Verizon does.

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