CPUC Pitches Frontier OK Edit, Tees Up April 15 Vote

The California Public Utilities Commission proposed a revision to a condition adopted in its March 18 OK of Frontier’s bankruptcy reorganization. The item will appear on the agency’s April 15 agenda, said CPUC Administrative Law Judge Anne Simon in a Friday proposed decision in docket A.20-05-010. The March 18 condition required the provider to build fiber-to-the-premise to 150,000 locations in places with a maximum internal rate of return of 20% and where the telco is the only service provider, with at least 10% in rural areas. Friday’s proposal would instead require at least 10% of those locations be in places where Frontier is the only fixed broadband provider. It would additionally require that at least 10% of Frontier funds allocated to that fiber buildout go to locations outside urbanized areas. The company suggested such changes last week (see 2103250059). "Frontier is reviewing the Proposed Decision and expects to emerge successfully from Chapter 11 shortly after [a] final approval order is received from the California PUC," a spokesperson said Monday.