Abernathy Steps Down as Frontier Executive VP

According to Frontier Communications' latest SEC filing, executive VP for external affairs Kathleen Abernathy stepped down from that post Nov. 18.

Abernathy, a former Republican FCC commissioner, is planning to retire in April 2017 but will remain a senior advisor to Frontier until then.

It was listed in the SEC document because given that change in status, she is no longer considered an executive officer.

Assuming Abernathy's duties will be Mark Nielsen, Frontier executive VP and general counsel.

Abernathy will continue to oversee the company's America’s Best Communities Prize Campaign until her April exit.

Abernathy helped lead Frontier's pushback on the FCC's proposed business data services reforms, one of the "controversial" items pulled from the FCC's public meeting agenda by chairman Tom Wheeler after Republicans cautioned against such decisions in the transition to Republican leadership.

Abernathy was on the FCC under then-chairman Michael Powell, now head of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, and after leaving the FCC was on the short list to head the National Association of Broadcasters, a job that ultimately went to Sen. Gordon Smith.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.