Union still criticizing deal: Officials say Verizon ranks higher than Frontier in customer satisfaction

Nov 05, 2009 (Charleston Daily Mail - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- FTR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Communications Workers of America union continues to criticize Verizon's plan to sell its wire line business in 14 states to Frontier Communications Corp.

Union spokeswoman Elaine Harris issued a press release on Wednesday saying that if the deal goes through, West Virginia would replace the top-ranked broadband provider -- Verizon -- with "one of the worst providers" -- Frontier.

The union cited an Oct. 29 residential customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates, a marketing information services company. The survey measures customer satisfaction with high-speed Internet service based on performance and reliability, cost of service, customer service, billing, and offerings and promotions.

The 2009 survey ranked Verizon as the best broadband provider in the east, with a score of 673 on a 1,000-point scale. The east region average score was 643. Frontier's score was 621.

The union press release did not mention that Verizon offers fiber-to-the-home connections under the brand name FiOS in some of its eastern service territories while Frontier does not.

Frontier spokeswoman Brigid Smith said, "As Ms. Harris knows all too well, Verizon does not provide FiOS to a single customer in West Virginia. Secondly, 40 percent of the households in Verizon's footprint in the state do not even have access to broadband. Download and upload speeds mean nothing if you cannot connect! Compare that to Frontier's 92 percent availability in West Virginia."

In J.D. Power's survey of providers in the west, Verizon ranked second with a score of 650. The west region average score was 631. Frontier had a score of 596.

Frontier wasn't part of the J.D. Power survey in the north central United States or in the south.

Harris said, "The economic growth and development of West Virginia depends on having modern, high-speed Internet access. It's not in the public's best interest for West Virginia to replace the leader in broadband service with a smaller company whose customer satisfaction is appallingly low."

Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier's chairwoman and chief executive officer, told analysts during a conference call on Tuesday that Frontier is "doing a very good job" in West Virginia.

"We have very high satisfaction rates from our customers in the state," she said.

As of June 30, Frontier had approximately 142,000 access lines and 48,000 high-speed Internet customers in 38 West Virginia counties, said company spokesman Steve Crosby.

Verizon has always been the largest telecommunications provider in West Virginia. As of Dec. 31, 2008, Verizon has about 617,000 access lines in 47 counties in the state, said Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell.

The Frontier-Verizon deal must be approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission in order to be completed. The commission has scheduled hearings Jan. 12-14 in Charleston.

Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 304-348-4836.

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