Frontier Accepts Parts of West Virginia Audit, Grumbles at Others

Frontier Communications accepted many recommendations of a West Virginia auditor’s report but chafed at some findings, in a Thursday response to the Public Service Commission in docket 18-0291-T-P. The carrier described the audit as thorough and largely accurate, with “significant -- and in certain instances, gross -- inaccuracies and misapprehensions of fact.” The telco is “far” from West Virginia’s “Big Fish,” it wrote: While once the largest voice provider, the telco now accounts for less than 15 percent of voice connections in the state. Taking a “monopoly rate-of-return mindset” won’t increase Frontier service quality or investment, it said. The report didn’t acknowledge service-quality improvements before the audit, Frontier said. Service regularly experiences dips for reasons outside the company’s control, including power failure, extreme weather, rodent activity and vandalism, said the carrier. States are probing the bankrupt provider (see 2004150063).