Verizon has received all approvals it needs for a $9.6 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, an Internet service provider with about 3.3 million broadband customers in 25 states. Verizon said it expects to complete the merger on January 20.
The last approval came from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which allowed the deal in a 5–0 vote yesterday. There were months of negotiations that resulted in requirements to deploy more fiber and wireless infrastructure, offer $20-per-month Internet service to people with low incomes for the next decade, and other commitments, including some designed to replace the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies that Verizon had to end because of demands by the Trump administration.
Verizon agreed to give $40 million to the California Emerging Technology Fund for digital literacy programs, and $10 million to California universities for a workforce development program. The CPUC decision said Verizon “shall establish a recruiting pipeline from California State Universities and California community colleges, aiming to recruit from underrepresented populations in consultation with the Commission’s ESJ [Environmental and Social Justice] Working Group, for both Verizon and Frontier’s workforce, and the workforce of supplier companies working with Verizon and Frontier.”