Frontier, Northwest Fiber Cite Progress in State Deal Reviews
Settlement talks began or are starting soon at three state commissions reviewing the proposed sale of Frontier Communications wireline, video and long-distance operations to Northwest Fiber in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington state (see 1908160033), the companies told the FCC,…
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posted Wednesday in docket 19-188. In Washington, parties convened for an initial settlement conference Aug. 28 and talks continue, with more discovery and testimony “expected in the months ahead,” Frontier and Northwest said. In Oregon, the initial conference was scheduled for Wednesday, and in Montana, all parties plan to meet Oct. 7. They're working with 40 local franchising authorities in Washington and Oregon where Frontier has cable franchises. Within 18 months of closing, Northwest plans to provide fiber-to-the-premises to at least 250,000 new locations, and in five years, bring fiber to at least 65 percent of remaining locations in the current footprint. For households that already have fiber, Northwest plans to upgrade download speeds to up to 1 Gbps within one year.