Senator Tries to Block Frontier's FCC Funding, Citing ISP's Various Failures
Fnord666 writes:
Senator Tries to Block Frontier's FCC Funding, Citing ISP's Various Failures
A Republican US senator from West Virginia has asked the government to block broadband funding earmarked for Frontier Communications, saying that the ISP is not capable of delivering gigabit-speed Internet service to all required locations.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) outlined her concerns in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai last week. Capito told Pai that Frontier has mismanaged previous government funding and seems to lack both the technological capabilities and financial ability to deliver on its new obligations.
[...] Capito urged Pai to block Frontier's new funding by rejecting the ISP's long-form application, which must be completed by winning bidders in order to receive the allocated money. "The stakes are simply too high to provide nearly $250 million to a company that does not have the capability to deliver on the commitments made to the FCC," she wrote.
[...] Capito is not the only official from West Virginia who has objected to Frontier getting federal money, as shown in a West Virginia Public Broadcasting report last week. Mike Holstine, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council, called Frontier's new funding "unbelievable."
"'I think the state is going to get screwed again,' [Holstine] said, referencing the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program scandal in which West Virginia was forced to return nearly $5 million in federal funds in 2017 after regulators discovered Frontier had wasted it," the news report said.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.