Frontier says West Virginia vandalism is disrupting service

Frontier is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individual(s) who caused theft or intentional damage to its West Virginia telephone cables, telecommunications equipment or facilities. 

The service provider asked persons who witnesses or has information related to criminal activity against Frontier should contact 911 immediately, and then call the Frontier Security Operations Center at 1-800-590-6605. 

On Saturday, March 17, Frontier said in a release that three acts of vandalism caused service interruptions in in Hedgesville, Oceana and Fairmont.

RELATED: CWA says Frontier’s injunction request against striking West Virginia workers is an overreaction

Due to the interruption the vandalism caused to 911 centers, Frontier these incidents were escalated to federal, state and local law enforcement. Frontier is also in contact with the Director of Homeland Security, West Virginia Division, due to the nature of the damage.

“We have experienced a significant increase in acts vandalism and damage to our facilities in the past two weeks,” said Greg Stephens, SVP, Frontier Communications’ Midwest region, in a release. “We are working diligently to restore service to the customers in these areas. We appreciate our customers’ patience and ask for the communities’ assistance by reporting suspicious activity.”

This rash of vandalism emerges at a time when 1,400 of the telco’s workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union have been on strike since the latest labor contract expired on March 4.

Tensions between the CWA workers has continued to rise. On Thursday, Frontier Communications filed a request for an injunction Kanawha County Circuit Court to stop the striking workers in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia, from engaging in what the company calls “rampant unlawful activity,” as well as abuse of other Frontier employees, including replacement workers.

However, CWA dismissed the injunction and called it “overreaction by the company to the lawful activity of our striking members.”