Verizon asks California to cut "prohibitively expensive" and "practically infeasible" conditions on a major deal

Now, Verizon asks California's Public Utilities Commission to rethink one of the prerequisites for the deal – broadband deployment of 100 Mbps download, 20 Mbps upload internet "at all locations served by 88 rural wire centers in the state within five years", a detailed report reads.

Verizon says this requirement is unrealistic. Why? The telco argues that many of these rural locations are extremely remote and hard to reach.



They also want more flexibility in areas where building fiber would be extremely expensive. If it costs more than $10,000 to connect a single location, Verizon says it should be allowed to offer slower speeds or use satellite-based internet instead.

These concerns were formally submitted by legal and executive representatives from Verizon and its advisors, and the issue has also been raised directly with regulatory staff since the draft decision was released last month.

It's only natural

An industry analyst at New Street Research said the disagreement does not appear unusual and that a compromise is likely. He explained that regulators often use merger approvals to push policy goals that are hard to achieve through normal rules, and that companies and regulators almost always find a middle ground.

Based on that history, he expects the issues to be resolved in a way that allows the deal to move forward, even if neither side gets exactly what it wants.

Verizon and Frontier are pushing for approval before February 13, when federal approval of the deal expires. If that deadline is missed, the companies would have to go through another long review process. California regulators could vote as early as January 15, but early February is considered more realistic because several issues are still unresolved.