Advocates for expanding rural access to broadband internet want frustrated residents to show up and testify at public hearings Tuesday in Tunkhannock.
A state Public Utility Commission administrative law judge will host hearings on Verizon Communications' plan to buy Frontier Communications' parent for $20 billion.
The hearings are at 1 p.m. at 6 p.m. at the Triton Hose Company, 116 W. Tioga St.
Verizon announced its plan to buy Frontier in September, but the PUC must approve it.
In an interview Monday, state Rep. Tina Pickett, R-Bradford, whose mostly rural 110th House District includes all of Wyoming County, said residents can let the judge know about lack of access to reliable high-speed internet in their neighborhoods.
“You have to raise your hand,” Pickett said, referring to residents’ needing to speak out. “You have to swear it on an oath and that makes it evidentiary information that can be put in the official hearings’ considerations.”
The sale isn’t directly about broadband internet, but in May the PUC approved a settlement that required Frontier to commit to spend up to $100 million through 2026 on improving internet access in rural territory.
Numerous residents testified about poor internet service at hearings leading up the settlement.
Pickett wants to ensure Frontier’s settlement is part of the final sale agreement. She said she wouldn’t mind the PUC requiring Verizon spend even more.
“They (Frontier) have not spent it all. I don't know exactly what the numbers are, because they're very elusive about that,” Pickett said. “But whatever is obviously left to be spent, it should have to be — I'll call it, for lack of a better legal word — an adjustment in the acquisition papers.”
A Verizon spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
Pickett said her office often fields complaints about internet service from frustrated residents unable to get results from Frontier. The company has improved its response, but problems remain, she said.
Access to high-speed internet and reliable cell service affects a region’s economy, Pickett said.
“If you're going to start a business or expand a business in our region and you don't have proper broadband, that's going to be one of your deal breakers,” she said.
Home buyers take internet access into account, she said.
“First question any more, ‘What's the coverage here? What's the cell coverage? What's the broadband coverage?’” Pickett said. “It's vital. Why would you want to buy a house these days that doesn't have it?”
In areas with a shortage of doctors and other health-care providers, broadband internet can really matter, she said.
“So, if you're dealing with something chronic that needs to be constantly monitored for your own safety and health reasons, the technology has allowed the medical world to be able to do that with telemedicine to a very large degree,” she said. “The hospital site may have that good coverage, but what if their customer doesn't, who's out in the in the back land?”
