Groups Criticize DEI Conditions in Verizon/Frontier Approval

Carr “is attempting to illegally reverse the express policy of the Communications Act, which was enacted to ensure that all communities, including communities of color, benefit from communications technology,” emailed Alisa Valentin, Public Knowledge broadband policy director. “The Trump administration’s actions are part of a coordinated attack on Black communities and other communities of color that is driven by their desire to claw back any meaningful progress that has been achieved for historically marginalized populations,” Valentin said.

“Verizon’s cowardly decision to modify or kill its diversity, equity and inclusion practices is the latest shameful episode in a litany of surrenders to appease our authoritarian president,” said Free Press Vice President of Policy Matt Wood: “For no other reason than overt racism and fake grievances, we have an administration that falsely cloaks itself in free speech telling American businesses what they can and cannot say.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez disagreed sharply with agency actions on DEI in remarks to a policy forum hosted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute and TechFreedom (see 2505160037). Gomez spoke Friday, before the Verizon/Frontier order was released.

"You have a regulatory agency that is saying we will not grant transactions that corporate parents desperately want, unless you kowtow to us,” Gomez said. “That's not a raised eyebrow, that is chilling and immediately a violation of [the] First Amendment. And it is dangerous."

In the order, the bureau said, “After carefully and thoroughly reviewing the record and evaluating the likely public interest effects of the proposed transfer, we do not find any material transaction-related public interest harms arising from the proposed transfers of control.” It continued: “Further, we find that certain public interest benefits are likely to be realized, including the upgrading and expansion of Frontier’s fiber network.”

The order discusses Verizon’s commitment to modify its structure to oust DEI. “Verizon states it is modifying its practices, including its leadership structure, training, corporate sponsorships, supplier selection, hiring, career development resources, and public and internal messaging, and has also committed to applying these changes to Frontier following the close of the proposed Transaction.”

Terms of the Verizon approval include “some really good and common-sense wins,” Carr said Friday at the FCBA annual seminar in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Beyond the end of DEI programs, Carr spoke approvingly of terms that ensure tower crews “can continue in a successful way.” “That’s a great thing,” he said.

The FCC moved relatively quickly and the deal had been pending only since September (see 2409050010).

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation also raised concerns. “While it was right to approve this transaction, the Commission should stop tying the approval of mergers to the chairman’s view of companies’ human resources practices,” said Joe Kane, ITIF director-broadband and spectrum policy. “Extracting such commitments is mission creep and undermines the FCC’s position as an expert agency in communications matters.”

Kathy Grillo, Verizon senior vice president-public policy and government affairs, noted that the FCC approval just moves the deal closer to approval, though she called it “a significant step” in the review process. “After Verizon completes the purchase of Frontier in early 2026, we will be well positioned to provide world-class fiber and wireless broadband services to American consumers across the country,” Grillo said in an email.

Process Questions

Lawyers noted that the commission often approves transactions without the commissioners voting.

"Contrary to popular belief, most transfer of control applications are approved by bureau action,” said Cooley’s Robert McDowell, a former FCC member. “Deals that present new or novel issues, or that are very high profile, get a vote,” but usually it isn’t required, McDowell said: “In this case, Verizon is effectively buying back assets it owned in the past, so, from that perspective, there is nothing new or novel."

A public interest lawyer said bureau approvals happen “usually where there aren’t significant merger conditions, or where the chair wants to move quickly to avoid a fight with minority commissioners or a need to cut deals.” The lawyer added: “It tracks with Verizon agreeing to what amounted to a merger condition to eliminate DEI. The Democrats would never have voted for it, even if it were not an official condition.”

Andrew Schwartzman, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's senior counselor, said, “Absent a novel question of law or policy, the bureaus have the authority to approve transactions.”

The order also notes Verizon’s commitments to NATE, which represents infrastructure builders. Verizon addressed concerns the group raised about pricing and other issues last week (see 2505150060). “America’s tower climbers & telecom crews are some of the best and hardest working people you can meet,” Carr said on X Friday: “I’m pleased to see that Verizon has agreed to changes that will benefit these workers.”

Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner said Verizon already had to get rid of DEI initiatives to conform to Trump’s DEI executive order, which every federal contractor has had to comply with. “What’s more interesting is that Verizon has come to an agreement with NATE,” he said. “As we all know, tower climbers are near and dear to Chairman Carr’s heart,” Entner said in an email.