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ELKINS -- Frontier Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, and the Randolph County commissioners are concerned the company may now not be able -- or willing -- to respond to customers' complaints about its service.
Frontier Communications and its direct and indirect subsidiaries voluntarily filed petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of New York Tuesday.
Company officials say Frontier's services will not be affected by the filing.
Randolph County Commissioner Mark Scott said the announcement raises questions locally. Last year the commissioners urged affected residents to contribute to a formal complaint regarding Frontier's phone and internet service.
"It's a major concern to us," Scott told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday afternoon. "They're seeking bankruptcy protection. They are facing an official inquiry from the state Public Service Commission about their decaying copper lines. We know what the issue is and what needs to be repaired.
"We're just concerned with how the bankruptcy filing will affect their ability -- and their willingness -- to answer the complaints of the citizens and get the repairs done."
Frontier's filing will allow the company to implement a prearranged $10 billion debt-cutting proposal, officials said.
Frontier is currently the seventh-biggest broadband provider in the country and the fourth-largest incumbent telephone company in the U.S.
A Frontier press release states, "Frontier expects to continue providing quality service to its customers without interruption and work with its business partners as usual throughout the court-supervised (bankruptcy) process."
The company informed the PSC it is not going out of business through a letter this week, officials said.
"All of Frontier's customers will continue to receive service," PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said. "Hopefully, as part of this planned bankruptcy, Frontier will have cash and start addressing some of the problems that we have seen over the past several years with regard to the service that it has been providing to West Virginia customers."
Lane said Frontier has more than 300,000 customers in West Virginia. The PSC received nearly 2,000 customer complaints about Frontier in 2019, she added.
"It's very important because of the 300,000 customers that Frontier has in West Virginia, a lot of them have no other choice but Frontier because cell service is not available in lots of parts of West Virginia," Lane said. "For so many of our West Virginians, Frontier is their carrier and we need to make sure they keep operating."
Lane said any rate changes would first have to be approved by the PSC.
A Frontier press release states, "Frontier expects to continue providing quality service to its customers without interruption and work with its business partners as usual throughout the court-supervised process."