Tag: citynet

Telephone Company: Competitor Seeks Revenge With Lawsuit

A West Virginia telephone company says a competitor that filed a lawsuit against it is seeking revenge over a high-speed internet project.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Frontier Communications has asked a judge to dismiss the federal lawsuit that Citynet filed against it last month. Frontier says Citynet is seeking revenge because the federal government awarded funds to Frontier’s proposed broadband project instead of Citynet’s proposal.

In the lawsuit, Citynet alleges that Frontier misused $40.5 million in federal funds and built a fiber broadband network designed to shut out competitors in the state. It also accused Frontier of double-billing, falsifying records and charging excess fees.

Frontier has called the lawsuit baseless. Company spokesman Andy Malinoski called Citynet “a disgruntled competitor.”

State Accused of Wasting Funding on Unused Fiber

West Virginia officials and a Frontier Communications have been accused of wasting government funding on unused fiber for internet connection.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that internet company Citynet recently filed a federal lawsuit accusing Frontier and state officials of defrauding the U.S. government by paying the company to install fiber that didn’t meet federal grant guidelines.

The newspaper reports that at least $1.1 million in unused fiber was either built to closing schools or county education buildings that already received internet service through a different connection. Some of that fiber was used for less than a year, and much of it was never used at all.

The funding came from a $126 million federal grant from the U.S. government.

State officials didn’t comment on the lawsuit.

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