by LIZ BEAVERS
Tribune Managing Editor
KEYSER — The transition from Verizon to Frontier Communications in West Virginia has not gone as smoothly as Frontier officials would have liked, but work is continuing to complete the process and restore service to all customers, according to the manager of the eight-county region which includes Mineral County.
Rita Griffith, general manager for the Elkins Local Area Market of Frontier, and Ron Smith, the local manager, were the guest speakers recently at a meeting of the Keyser Lions Club.
“I’ll be right up front with you,” Griffith told the members gathered
at University Place on the Potomac State College campus.
“We have experienced some troubles with the transition. When July 1 hit, we thought everything had been separated but it wasn't.”
July 1, the date the transaction was completed between the two companies, was to have also been the date that Verizon had its West Virginia lines — the lines being taken over by Frontier — separated from its Maryland lines, which it continues to maintain.
According to Griffith, however, not all that had been completed by the target date.
“It has been a challenge,” she said. “We have been working lots and lots of hours to get things back in service.”
It has also been a learning experience for her, as the Pocahontas County commissioner just joined Frontier in June - one month before the changeover.
Despite the rocky start, however, Griffith, who has been a Frontier customer herself since she grew up in Pocahontas County, believes residents of the area will be well served by the largest provider of communications services in rural America.
“We made a commitment to the Governor of West Virginia that we're going to spend over $500 million to expand the infrastructure” in order to be able to provide quality land line, Internet and television service, she said.
“We're going to try to be as competitive as possible. We may not always been the lowest price, but we try to be the best quality,” she added.
Griffith noted that Frontier has a contract with Dish Network, and can offer bundles of phone, Internet and television services to its customers.
They will not, however, be offering wireless service.
“Verizon kept all their wireless,” she explained.
As for providing broadband service, Griffith said, “by adding what Frontier has to what Verizon already had, we will be able to get a lot more coverage.”
The goal, she said, is to increase everyone's speed.
“Five megabits are coming. That's going to be the standard,” she said, noting that “the rates should not go up.”
Should anyone have any questions or concerns about his or her service, she invited them to contact her at 304-799-3994.
