Carr Probing Verizon Over Diversity Initiatives

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2025 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr opened a probe into Verizon over diversity initiatives at the company, which has a $20 billion merger waiting on FCC approval.

“I wrote a letter to Comcast where I made clear that I expect all regulated companies to end invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr wrote in a letter to Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “While I am pleased with the progress that different companies are making on this front, I am concerned by the apparent lack of progress at Verizon.”

Carr took issue with pro-diversity language in public-facing Verizon documents and reported diversity trainings he called an “extensive race reeducation program.” He directed Verizon to reach out to agency staff handling the company’s pending merger.

“We are aware of the Chairman’s concerns. We look forward to engaging with the FCC staff on this issue. Verizon has always focused on having the best talent to deliver the best experiences to our customers,” a Verizon spokesperson said in a statement.

Verizon is in the process of acquiring fiber provider Frontier in a deal valued at $20 billion. Like the other big wireless carriers, Verizon is looking to expand its wireline footprint as quickly as possible in a bid to offer bundled fixed and mobile broadband services. Frontier’s 7.8 million fiber passings are a big part of Verizon’s plans to hit 30 million passings by 2030.

When he took office, President Donald Trump issued executive orders to axe diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government, which Carr has sought to implement at the FCC. In addition to a similar probe into Comcast and investigations into NPR and PBS, Carr has made it clear he wants companies to scrap diversity efforts if they’re looking to have deals approved by the agency.

“I would encourage anybody that's trying to get a transaction through the FCC right now to move with all deliberate speed to identify any invidious forms of DEI discrimination that their company has been promoting and end it immediately,” he said in a recent interview.

In a press conference Thursday before the Verizon probe was public, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the other inquiries.

“Stoking culture wars on a partisan basis is not the FCC’s job,” she said. “It’s a fishing expedition meant to bully and intimidate companies.”

Another merger before the agency, between media companies Skydance and Paramount, has been complicated by Carr investigating CBS over how it edited a 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris during the presidential election. Trump is also personally suing the network.

“The one area where capital markets believed it would have a significant upside – mergers – is in doubt” under the Trump administration, New Street Research policy advisor Blair Levin wrote in an investor note before the Verizon probe was public. Levin said he expected regulators would over time be friendlier to mergers than under the Biden administration, but that media transactions in particular could come with extra strings “outside of the normal bounds of competition or public interest analysis.”