CWA Shows Frontier Some Love in RDOF Funding Debate

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has asked the Federal Communications Commission to reject efforts by West Virginia legislators to block Frontier Communications’ successful bid for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) funding. Frontier won $247 million to serve almost 79,000 locations in the state. It says that it will bring gigabit connectivity to many of those locations. The company is currently in bankruptcy, but expects to emerge in the first quarter of 2021. A CWA letter about Frontier, which is addressed to outgoing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, is a response to two letters from West Virginia legislators. One is a December 9 letter from Senator Shelley Moore Capito that expresses concerns and asks the FCC to keep this in mind as it reviews the long-form application required for the Frontier RDOF win. The other is a December 16 letter from a group of legislators urging rejection of the long-form application in the auction. The CWA Frontier letter is from District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney. It argues that Frontier’s bankruptcy reorganization will reduce the company’s debt obligation by more than $10 billion and its annual interest obligations by $1 billion. This, the letter said, will better position Frontier for broadband success.