CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Public Service Commission today encouraged Frontier West Virginia and Citizens Telecommunication Company of West Virginia to revise and complete their filings in the Focused Management Audit of Frontier’s operations.

After receiving numerous and increasing complaints regarding Frontier’s quality of service, on Aug. 30, 2018, the Commission ordered a focused management audit of Frontier to determine if Frontier was operating efficiently, utilizing sound management practices and to identify those areas where Frontier was operating inefficiently. 

The Commission ordered that the audit be conducted by a qualified outside auditing firm and paid for by Frontier.  The audit will focus on the current status of the copper network; adequacy of staffing levels dedicated to the copper network; adequacy of capital investment in the copper network since 2010; adequacy of policies and procedures impacting the quality of service; adequacy of metrics currently in place to measure quality of service; impact of the declining customer base on internal cash flow from operations relative to historic and current copper infrastructure maintenance and capital investment; and the impact of the current bargaining agreement and ongoing relations between management and labor on customer service quality and response timing. 

The audit is also to make appropriate recommendations for addressing those areas that need to be improved. 

Frontier informed the Commission on Jan. 23, 2019, that it had missed several Commission imposed deadlines, including the scheduled issuance of the RFP for the Audit. 

The recent Commission Order directs Frontier to file all delinquent documents as soon as possible and to notify the Commission immediately should it miss any additional timeline milestones.

Additional information is available on the Commission website: www.psc.state.wv.us by referencing Case No. 18-0291-T-P.