Frontier exec storms out of broadband meeting

Frontier Communications executive Dana Waldo abruptly walked out of a public meeting at the West Virginia Capitol, after he accused Citynet CEO Jim Martin of misleading state officials and defaming Frontier.

"Jim, it's over," Waldo told Martin during a Broadband Deployment Council meeting. "I'm done talking to you. I'm done . . . wasting my time responding to your mischaracterizations… I'll excuse myself." Waldo stood up, left the governor's conference room, and didn't return. After the meeting, Martin said he was just asking a question. He said Frontier's Internet DSL service in rural areas doesn't provide the 1-megabit upload speed -- a minimum standard passed by the Legislature and set into law earlier this year. "[Waldo] couldn't defend it," Martin said. "That's why he blew up." Martin said Waldo repeatedly has misled state lawmakers and Broadband Deployment Council members. "It's unfortunate that Frontier is misleading the council that its current broadband technology meets the state definition of broadband," he said. A Frontier spokesman said the company offers 1-megabit-per-second upload speeds to customers in rural parts of the state, and faster speeds in urban areas.