Frontier's High-Risk, Unsustainable Business Model Would Harm Illinois Consumers
In a legal brief filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Thursday, March 25, the IBEW urged that commissioners reject the proposed sale of Verizon's landlines to Frontier as being contrary to the public interest.The union's final "brief in reply to exceptions" submitted to the ICC, refuted the two companies' pleadings and reiterated its support for Administrative Law Judge Lisa M. Tapia's proposed order denying the Verizon-Frontier application and rejecting the proposed merger.
The union's 20-page brief supports the ALJ's findings that Frontier's business model is not viable and that the deal would harm customer service. "The IBEW and CWA only want to ensure that the people who work for Verizon in Illinois, and the public they serve, will not be harmed by the proposed sale," said Ron Kastner, Business Manager of Local 21, the largest IBEW telecom union in Illinois. "As the ALJ correctly found, the deal as it is presently structured is just too risky, and Frontier is too financially unstable,
