Filed by
Frontier Communications Corporation
Pursuant
to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
Under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject
Company: Frontier Communications Corporation
Registration
Statement No. 333-160789
The
following editorial appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail on November 5,
2009.
Frontier
seems quite up to serving the state
It’s hard
to understand alarm over its purchase of Verizon’s lines
Advertiser
The
company that came to be known as Verizon has been the largest provider of land
line telephone service in West Virginia since 1916. It has about 617,000 access
lines in 47 of West Virginia’s 55 counties.
But
consumer telephone habits and businesses needs have changed a good deal since
1916, and Verizon has been moving in other directions for some time. The company
said in May that it would sell its local wireline business in 13 states -
including West Virginia - to Frontier Communications for about $8.6
billion.
The deal
must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission and state regulators,
including the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
Although
Frontier has said it will honor the existing labor agreement, the Communications
Workers of America has been railing against approval of the deal.
Why?
Verizon
is a fine company with a big stake in the largest wireless network in the
nation, but it wants to sell its landline business.
Frontier
operates in 24 states and is the second-largest telephone company here, with
142,000 lines and 48,000 high-speed Internet customers in 38
counties.
It has a
92 percent “reach” on broadband in the state. The areas it would acquire from
Verizon have only a 60 percent reach.
Frontier
also has high customer satisfaction rates.
So
where's the tragedy?
Byron
Harris, director of the Consumer Advocate Division of the PSC, told the Daily
Mail's George Hohmann in May that Frontier has long focused on rural areas, not
only here but in other states.
"I would
much rather have a 100-pound gorilla that's committed to serving rural areas
like West Virginia than an 800-pound gorilla that is not."
In fact,
Verizon had to agree in December 2008 to invest $11 million in equipment and
station 49 more maintenance technicians in West Virginia to settle quality and
customer service complaints.
If the
transaction is approved, West Virginia would be Frontier's largest market. It
would have just about all the telephone and broadband in the state.
Frontier
appears capable of handling that.
Why
wouldn't West Virginians gain from working with a company that is eager to work
with them?
Forward-Looking
Language
This
presentation contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are made on the basis of management’s views and
assumptions regarding future events and business performance. Words such
as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements (including
oral representations) involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to differ materially from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and
uncertainties are based on a number of factors, including but not limited
to: Our ability to complete the acquisition of access lines from
Verizon; the failure to obtain, delays in obtaining or adverse conditions
contained in any required regulatory approvals for the Verizon transaction; the
failure to receive the IRS ruling approving the tax-free status of the Verizon
transaction; the ability to successfully integrate the Verizon operations into
Frontier’s existing operations; the effects of increased expenses due to
activities related to the Verizon transaction; the ability to migrate Verizon’s
West Virginia operations from Verizon owned and operated systems and processes
to Frontier owned and operated systems and processes successfully; the risk that
the growth opportunities and cost synergies from the Verizon transaction may not
be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the sufficiency
of the assets to be acquired from Verizon to enable us to operate the acquired
business; disruption from the Verizon transaction making it more difficult to
maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; the effects of
greater than anticipated competition requiring new pricing, marketing strategies
or new product or service offerings and the risk that we will not respond on a
timely or profitable basis; reductions in the number of our access lines and
High-Speed Internet subscribers; our ability to sell enhanced and data services
in order to offset ongoing declines in revenue from local services, switched
access services and subsidies; the effects of ongoing changes in the regulation
of the communications industry as a result of federal and state legislation and
regulation; the effects of competition from cable, wireless and other wireline
carriers (through voice over internet protocol (VOIP) or otherwise); our ability
to adjust successfully to changes in the communications industry and to
implement strategies for improving growth; adverse changes in the credit markets
or in the ratings given to our debt securities by nationally accredited ratings
organizations, which could limit or restrict the availability, or increase the
cost, of financing; reductions in switched access revenues as a result of
regulation, competition and/or technology substitutions; the effects of changes
in both general and local economic conditions on the markets we serve, which can
impact demand for our products and services, customer purchasing decisions,
collectability of revenue and required levels of capital expenditures related to
new construction of residences and businesses; our ability to effectively manage
service quality; our ability to successfully introduce new product offerings,
including our ability to offer bundled service packages on terms that are both
profitable to us and attractive to our customers; changes in accounting policies
or practices adopted voluntarily or as required by generally accepted accounting
principles or regulators; our ability to effectively manage our operations,
operating expenses and capital expenditures, to pay dividends and to repay,
reduce or refinance our debt; the effects of bankruptcies and home foreclosures,
which could result in increased bad debts; the effects of technological changes
and competition on our capital expenditures and product and service offerings,
including the lack of assurance that our ongoing network improvements will be
sufficient to meet or exceed the capabilities and quality of competing networks;
the effects of increased medical, retiree and pension expenses and related
funding requirements; changes in income tax rates, tax laws, regulations or
rulings, and/or federal or state tax assessments; the effects of state
regulatory cash management policies on our ability to transfer cash among our
subsidiaries and to the parent company; our ability to successfully renegotiate
union contracts expiring in 2009 and thereafter; declines in the value of our
pension plan assets, which could require us to make contributions to the pension
plan beginning no earlier than 2010; our ability to pay dividends in respect of
our common shares, which may be affected by our cash flow from operations,
amount of capital expenditures, debt service requirements, cash paid for income
taxes and our liquidity; the effects of any unfavorable outcome with respect to
any of our current or future legal, governmental or regulatory proceedings,
audits or disputes; the possible impact of adverse changes in political or other
external factors over which we have no control; and the effects of hurricanes,
ice storms or other severe weather. These and other uncertainties related
to our business are described in greater detail in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and
10-Q, and the foregoing information should be read in conjunction with these
filings. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements or to make any other forward-looking statement,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless
required to do so by securities laws.
Additional
Information and Where to Find It
This
filing is not a substitute for the definitive prospectus/proxy statement
included in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 that Frontier filed, and the
SEC has declared effective, in connection with the proposed transactions
described in the definitive prospectus/proxy statement. INVESTORS ARE URGED
TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROSPECTUS/PROXY STATEMENT BECAUSE IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT
INFORMATION, INCLUDING DETAILED RISK FACTORS. The definitive
prospectus/proxy statement and other documents filed or to be filed by Frontier
with the SEC are or will be available free of charge at the SEC’s website,
www.sec.gov, or by directing a request when such a filing is made to Frontier, 3
High Ridge Park, Stamford, CT 06905-1390, Attention: Investor
Relations.
This
communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior
to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such
jurisdiction.
Frontier’s
stockholders approved the proposed transactions on October 27, 2009, and no
other vote of the stockholders of Frontier or Verizon is required in connection
with the proposed transactions.