Verizon announced its $20 billion deal for Frontier in September 2024, in the final months of the Biden administration. In last week's letter agreeing to end DEI practices, Verizon General Counsel Vandana Venkatesh wrote, "we recognize that the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion ('DEI') has changed. The Supreme Court, the President's Executive Orders, and federal mandates require changes in the way companies approach DEI issues moving forward."
Verizon's letter said that because of the "changing landscape," the firm "has been evaluating its DEI-related programs, HR processes, supplier programs, training programs and materials, and other initiatives." Among other changes, Verizon said it "will no longer have a team or any individual roles focused on DEI" and will reassign DEI-focused employees to "HR talent objectives."
"Verizon recognizes that some DEI policies and practices could be associated with discrimination," the letter said.
T-Mobile sent a similar letter to Carr on March 27, saying it "is fully committed to identifying and rooting out any policies and practices that enable such discrimination, whether in fulfillment of DEI or any other purpose," and is thus "conducting a comprehensive review of its DEI policies, programs, and activities." One day later, the FCC approved a T-Mobile joint venture to acquire fiber provider Lumos.
With the Verizon and T-Mobile deals approved, Carr has another opportunity to make demands on a major telecom company. On Friday, Charter announced a $34.5 billion merger with Cox that would make it the largest home Internet provider in the US, passing Comcast. Several Charter and Cox programs could be on the chopping block because of Carr's animosity toward diversity initiatives.
This is just insanity. The problem with ISPs is not "there's too much competition."
What's the endgame here? We just go back to Ma Bell, but this time with internet?