FRONTIER WARNS STATE NOT TO REDEFINE BROADBAND SPEED

(02/19/2013)
Frontier is warning the State of WV to not consider a proposal by the Broadband Deployment Council to redefine broadband speeds in the Mountain State.

Companies have been allowed to define their own "high-speed" broadband products, and in most rural areas those speeds don't measure up well.

Frontier says such a proposal could wind up wasting millions of dollars in state funds to expand high-speed Internet.

Dana Waldo, Frontier's West Virginia general manager, said the company has invested tens of millions of dollars to increase broadband availability to 158,000 additional households across the state since July 2010.

Some of those customers do not have broadband speed customarily available in more urban areas, although customers pay the same price for the service.

The proposed change in state law would allow the state to subsidize other telecommunications providers that want to use state funds to bring faster broadband service to areas where Frontier already makes high-speed Internet available.