Pa. Commissioner Claims Frontier's Settlement Lacks Deterrent

Four of five Pennsylvania public utility commissioners supported a Frontier Communications settlement Thursday that resolves a service quality complaint. The PUC approved an administrative law judge’s decision to accept without modification a pact between Frontier and state consumer and small business advocates (see 2403220066). Under the settlement, Frontier agreed to spend $100 million on its Pennsylvania network through 2026 and give bill credits to customers with service problems prospectively and retroactively. Commissioner Kimberly Barrow was upset that the agreement lacked a civil penalty for Frontier. Its customers were “without access to telephone or broadband services which could impact the customer's access to education, medical or emergency services, work, and/or personal communications and interactions,” Barrow wrote. “It is well known that access to telephone and broadband services is critical to everyday life and lack of access could have a serious impact, thus the consequences of Frontier's alleged conduct should be deemed serious.” While Frontier agreed to invest $100 million in infrastructure and workforce, the carrier should have been doing that already, said Barrow: The settlement doesn’t “provide a deterrent for future behavior or punish for past behavior.” Frontier didn't comment.