FCC approves Verizon’s $20 billion merger after it commits to ‘ending’ DEI

Verizon expects to carry fiber to 1 million houses every year following the acquisition. The deal went by after Verizon “dedicated to ending DEI-related practices,” in keeping with a press release by FCC Chair Brendan Carr.

The Intercept stories that in a May 15th letter to Carr, Verizon’s chief authorized officer, Vandana Venkatesh, outlined what it’s strolling away from. As a result of “Verizon acknowledges that some DEI insurance policies and practices might be related to discrimination,” it’s going to now not have any HR roles or groups targeted on DEI, take away references to the time period from worker coaching supplies, in addition to targets for variety in its provides, illustration of ladies and minorities in its workforce. Within the letter, Venkatesh says that now Verizon’s public messaging goes to “take away references to ‘DEI’ or ‘variety, fairness and inclusion.’”

By means of the merger, Verizon may even be capable of claw again a few of its fiber enterprise after it sold parts of its wireline operations, together with Fios fiber web connections, to Frontier in 2015. Carr mentioned the merger will permit fiber to return to extra communities, together with rural ones. BEAD, a Biden-era initiative, was presupposed to pay fiber suppliers to carry high-speed web to rural areas, however a report from The Washington Post suggests that the “cash isn’t flowing.”

Replace, Could sixteenth: Added further particulars from Verizon’s letter to the FCC and Decoder.