Verizon Communications this week received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its proposed merger with Frontier.
The FCC approved the merger after Verizon agreed to end its diversity, equity and inclusiveness (DEI) programs, according to a statement from the federal regulator.
“This will ensure that the combined business will enact policies and practices consistent with the law and the public interest,” the FCC said.
Verizon will pay $9.6 billion for Frontier, which operates a fiber-based broadband communications network across multiple states. Verizon has committed to upgrading Frontier’s existing fiber network, and to install additional fiber that reaches more than one million American homes each year.
Brendan Carr, the Chairman of the FCC, said Americans will “benefit from a series of good and common-sense wins.”
“The transaction will unleash billions of dollars in new infrastructure builds in communities across the country, including rural America,” Carr said, without providing specifics.
He continued: “This investment will accelerate the transition away from old, copper line networks to modern, high-speed ones, and it delivers for America’s tower and telecom crews who do the hard, often gritty work needed to build high-speed networks.”
Under Carr’s leadership, the FCC has diligently targeted media and telecommunications firms who have previously affirmed the use of DEI practices in their hiring and internal promotion efforts.
The use of DEI programs and initiatives is meant to foster a culturally-diverse workplace where workers feel empowered and safe. Critics of DEI programs generally hold the belief that the initiatives promote minority candidates and executives over those who may be better qualified for certain roles, though there is no substantive proof that companies have hired or promoted lesser-skilled workers on the basis of race or orientation.
