Verizon’s Frontier Deal Gets FCC Approval After It Scraps DEI (3)

Verizon Communications Inc.‘s deal to acquire Frontier Communications was approved Friday by the FCC, just a day after the carrier wrote to the agency’s chairman saying it was abandoning its DEI policies.

Verizon told the Federal Communications Commission in a May 15 letter it was ending DEI responsibilities for employees, removing diversity references from employee training materials, and scrapping quantitative goals for supplier diversity. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted the letter first on X on Friday before the agency published the document on its website. Verizon needed the FCC’s approval to complete its merger with Frontier.

The approval comes as the Trump administration continues cracking down on what it says are “illegal” DEI initiatives.

“Verizon has also committed to ending DEI-related practices as specified in the FCC’s record and has reaffirmed the merged entity’s commitment to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination,” the FCC said in a press release Friday announcing approval of the deal.

Verizon has been evaluating its DEI and HR policies, the company told the FCC, and would implement the changes it described immediately.

“We are committed to creating a culture that leverages and values each person’s unique strengths and talents. These values have been fundamental to our Verizon culture since our founding 25 years ago,” the letter said. “However, we recognize that the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) has changed.”

A Verizon spokesperson declined to comment beyond what the company said in its letter. The company’s annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for May 22.

The FCC sent Verizon a letter Feb. 27 calling out statements on the company’s website touting its “culture of diversity, equity and inclusion” and its hiring of Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder to run a DEI audit.

Carr has warned companies that the FCC is willing to stop mergers if firms back “invidious” DEI policies, calling out Verizon, T-Mobile US Inc., and Paramount Global earlier this year.

The FCC chairman also has directed the agency to investigate Walt Disney Co. and its ABC network over their DEI efforts.