U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says she’s asked the Federal Communications Commission to reject the bids Frontier Communications has submitted for millions of dollars in broadband expansion in the Mountain State.
Capito had previously sent a letter to the FCC asking it to take a closer look at Frontier after the company was initially awarded $245 million of the $362 million available for projects Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. Frontier was the low bidder on 70% of the funds available.
Capito said Frontier “way underbid” for the RDOF projects. She questions what the company can do or what kind of investment partners it can attract while it’s in bankruptcy.
Twenty-eight members of the West Virginia Senate sent a letter last week to the FCC expressing some of the same concerns.
Frontier Communications took over the Verizon landline network in 2010. The state Public Service Commission completed a performance audit earlier this year pointing to problems with the company’s copper network, staffing levels and capital investment. Frontier said it was “willing to implement” multiple changes called for in the audit report.
