The following
article appeared in Communications Daily on April 5, 2010.
‘There
They Go Again’
Frontier
Slams CWA Opposition to Verizon Deal after Union Rally at FCC
A
Thursday rally by CWA members at FCC headquarters in Washington protesting
Frontier’s proposed acquisition of landlines from Verizon drew sharp words from
a Frontier spokesman. The CWA said about 200 members, accompanied by supporters
affiliated with the IBEW and the AFL-CIO, demonstrated. “This deal will pad the
pockets of Wall Street executives while only deepening the digital divide,” CWA
District 2 Vice President Ron Collins told rally participants. Afterwards, the
union said, CWA President Larry Cohen, Collins and others met with
Commissioner Michael Copps, FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus and other agency
officials. Responding to the event, a Frontier spokesman evoked Ronald Reagan’s
retort to Jimmy Carter during a 1980 presidential campaign debate.
“There
they go again,” spokesman Steve Crosby said. “We do not understand why the CWA
leadership continues to oppose a transaction that is good for network and
broadband investment, good for jobs, and good for West Virginia and the other
involved states. Union leadership continues to spread inaccurate information
about the transaction announced between Frontier Communications and Verizon.” He
said the union “has devoted itself to dog-in-the-manger tactics designed to
scuttle the transaction.”
Before
the Verizon deal, his company barely made the radar screens of unions
representing Frontier employees, Crosby said. “Our relationships were based on
.... respect, teamwork and a focus on the customer,” he told us in an e-mail.
“Suddenly, issues are being raised that were never
a concern in the past.” In six of nine states requiring approvals, Frontier and
Verizon have reached settlements on many issues with commission staff,
competitors and others “to the satisfaction of all parties, except
the unions,” he said.
Frontier
has agreed to widen broadband offerings in every state where it’s acquiring
Verizon access lines, Crosby said. “Today, Frontier makes broadband available to
more than 91 percent of its customers in the 24 states it serves and plans to
bring all of the soon-to-be-acquired properties to at least 85 percent
availability within approximately three years,” Crosby said. “Frontier has
agreed to spend millions of dollars to achieve this goal; that money translates
into good news for jobs, the community and local and state taxes.” The company
has said in public and in writing that the acquisition would result in no job
reductions at the customer service level, he added.
The
FCC, state regulators and prospective customers should recognize that Frontier
keeps its word, Crosby
said. — Michael
Dolan
About
Frontier Communications
Frontier
Communications Corporation (NYSE: FTR) is a full-service communications provider
and one of the largest local exchange telephone companies in the country serving
rural areas and small and medium-sized towns and cities. Frontier is included in
the S&P 500 Index. Frontier Communications offers telephone, television and
Internet services, including wireless Internet data access, as well as bundled
offerings, specialized bundles for small businesses and home offices, and data
security solutions. Additional information about Frontier products and services
is available at www.frontier.com. More information about the transaction with
Verizon may be found at www.frontier.com/ir.
Additional
Information and Where to Find It
This news release
is not a substitute for the definitive prospectus/proxy statement included in
the Registration Statement on Form S-4 that Frontier filed, and the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has declared effective, in connection with
the proposed transactions described in the definitive prospectus/proxy
statement. INVESTORS IN FRONTIER’S COMMON STOCK ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE
PROSPECTUS/PROXY STATEMENT BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING
DETAILED RISK FACTORS. The definitive prospectus/proxy statement and other
documents filed or to be filed by Frontier with the SEC are or will be available
free of charge at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov, or by directing a request when
such a filing is made to Frontier, 3 High Ridge Park, Stamford, CT 06905-1390,
Attention: Investor Relations.
Frontier’s
stockholders approved the proposed transactions on October 27, 2009, and no
other vote of the stockholders of Frontier or Verizon is required in connection
with the proposed transactions.
Forward-Looking
Language
This press release
contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are made on the basis of management’s views
and assumptions regarding future events and business
performance. Words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“intend” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements (including oral
representations) involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results
to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and
uncertainties are based on a number of factors, including but not limited
to: Our ability to complete the acquisition of access lines from
Verizon; the failure to obtain, delays in obtaining or adverse conditions
contained in any required regulatory approvals for the Verizon transaction; for
two years after the merger, we may be limited in the amount of capital stock
that we can issue to make acquisitions or to raise additional capital; our
indemnity obligation to Verizon may discourage, delay or prevent a third party
from acquiring control of us during the two year period following the merger in
a transaction that our stockholders might consider favorable; the ability to
successfully integrate Verizon’s local exchange business and related activities
that we expect to acquire into Frontier’s existing operations; the effects of
increased expenses due to activities related to the Verizon transaction; the
ability to successfully migrate Verizon’s West Virginia operations from Verizon
owned and operated systems and processes to Frontier owned and operated systems
and processes; the risk that the growth opportunities and cost synergies from
the Verizon transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize
than expected; the sufficiency of the assets to be acquired from Verizon to
enable us to operate the acquired business; disruption from the Verizon
transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers,
employees or suppliers; the effects of greater than anticipated competition
requiring new pricing, marketing strategies or new product or service offerings
and the risk that we will not respond on a timely or profitable basis;
reductions in the number of our access lines that cannot be offset by increases
in High Speed Internet subscribers and sale of other products; our ability to
sell enhanced and data services in order to offset ongoing declines in revenue
from local services, switched access services and subsidies; the effects of
ongoing changes in the regulation of the communications industry as a result of
federal and state legislation and regulation; the effects of changes in the
availability of federal and state universal funding to us and our competitors;
the effects of competition from cable, wireless and other wireline carriers
(through voice over internet protocol
(VOIP) or
otherwise); our ability to adjust successfully to changes in the communications
industry and to implement strategies for improving growth; adverse changes in
the credit markets or in the ratings given to our debt securities by nationally
accredited ratings organizations, which could limit or restrict the
availability, or increase the cost, of financing; reductions in switched access
revenues as a result of regulation, competition and/or technology substitutions;
the effects of changes in both general and local economic conditions on the
markets we serve, which can affect demand for our products and services,
customer purchasing decisions, collectability of revenue and required levels of
capital expenditures related to new construction of residences and businesses;
our ability to effectively manage service quality; our ability to successfully
introduce new product offerings, including our ability to offer bundled service
packages on terms that are both profitable to us and attractive to our
customers; changes in accounting policies or practices adopted voluntarily or as
required by generally accepted accounting principles or regulators; our ability
to effectively manage our operations, operating expenses and capital
expenditures, and to repay, reduce or refinance our debt; the effects of
bankruptcies and home foreclosures, which could result in difficulty in
collection of revenues and loss of customers; the effects of technological
changes and competition on our capital expenditures and product and service
offerings, including the lack of assurance that our ongoing network improvements
will be sufficient to meet or exceed the capabilities and quality of competing
networks; the effects of increased medical, retiree and pension expenses and
related funding requirements; changes in income tax rates, tax laws, regulations
or rulings, and/or federal or state tax assessments; the effects of state
regulatory cash management policies on our ability to transfer cash among our
subsidiaries and to the parent company; our ability to successfully renegotiate
union contracts expiring in 2010 and beyond; declines in the value of our
pension plan assets, which could require us to make contributions to the pension
plan in 2011 and beyond; our ability to pay dividends in respect of our common
shares, which may be affected by our cash flow from operations, amount of
capital expenditures, debt service requirements, cash paid for income taxes and
our liquidity; the effects of any unfavorable outcome with respect to any of our
current or future legal, governmental or regulatory proceedings, audits or
disputes; the possible impact of adverse changes in political or other external
factors over which we have no control; and the effects of hurricanes, ice storms
or other natural disasters. These and other uncertainties related to
our business are described in greater detail in our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and the
foregoing information should be read in conjunction with these
filings. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements or to make any other forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless
required to do so by securities laws.
|
INVESTOR
CONTACTS:
|
|
|
MEDIA
CONTACT:
|
|
David
Whitehouse
|
Gregory
Lundberg
|
|
Brigid
Smith
|
|
SVP &
Treasurer
|
Director,
Investor Relations
|
|
AVP Corp.
Communications
|
|
(203)
614-5708
|
(203)
614-5044
|
|
(203)
614-5042
|
|
david.whitehouse@frontiercorp.com
|
greg.lundberg@frontiercorp.com
|
|
brigid.smith@frontiercorp.com
|
###