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https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Frontier-Buys-All-ATT-Landline-Operations-in-Connecticut-127049Frontier Communications has announced that the company will be buying AT&T's fixed-line networks in Connecticut in a deal estimated to be worth around $2 billion. According to the companies' press release, the deal will involve all AT&T residential (both DSL and U-Verse), commercial and wholesale customers in Connecticut. All told, Frontier should acquire around 415,000 broadband customers (including 245,000 U-verse users), 900,000 voice subscribers, and 180,000 residential video users.
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"We see an opportunity to enhance broadband capabilities in Connecticut," Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter said in a statement. "This transaction demonstrates our continued commitment to enhancing shareholder value by improving the sustainability of our dividend, increasing our free cash flow and building on our core product and service strengths."
Verizon, like AT&T, has been busy trying to back away from fixed-line customers in markets they don't want to upgrade in order to focus primarily on more profitable wireless service. AT&T has been shopping around a number of unwanted markets for several years. Where they can't sell, AT&T's attempting to gut unwanted regulations in order to simply walk away from unwanted users sometime in the next few years.
Frontier, meanwhile, continues to grow at an amazing rate as they gobble up the users AT&T and Verizon don't want. The company acquired 4.8 million access lines in 14 states from Verizon in a deal valued at $8.6 billion back in 2009. Verizon got the better end of that arrangement, not only getting a massive tax write off while shedding debt, but they then got to come back into those markets and sell fixed line LTE services to many still un-upgraded DSL users in those markets.
It wasn't clear Frontier was going to be game for another such deal after Verizon, but AT&T's all-cash offer and the ability to grow further, faster was clearly too tempting for Frontier.
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Spam Hunter
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I never understood why at&t wanted to buy SNET. Because NY, MA and RI are Verizon states (for the most part), at&t was like an island in the middle of the ocean. Now Frontier (not the same company that I worked for years ago) is the island's owner.
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Moderator-Vertical, Vodavi, 1A2, Outside Wire
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True, Paul, but Frontier seems to be more well-suited for taking over these "islands". They have taken over Bell and non-Bell territories all over the country, so they must know what they're doing. I don't know of any areas where they are the LEC in a huge area; more likely just a smattering of little ones. As I'm sure you know, some states have literally dozens of LECs with little to no logic behind them.
On my recent trip to NC, I encountered five LECs in a 120 mile trip between two major cities. Frontier's chunk of it was tiny:
Charlotte: Bell (at&t)
Concord: Concord Telephone Co.
Goose Creek: GTE (Frontier)
New Salem: Alltel (Windstream)
Rockingham: Bell (at&t)
Wagram: Alltel (Windstream)
Southern Pines: Bell (at&t)
Raeford: United (Centurylink)
Fayetteville: United (Centurylink)
Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Spam Hunter
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Spam Hunter
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I'm surprised that Fairpoint isn't the LEC in any of those areas.
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I really have mixed feelings about this. My company is one of the largest AT&T customers in Connecticut, and we have a great account team.
On the other hand, their funky corporate policies and inconsistent service are getting tiresome. We'll see.
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Joined: Apr 2005
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I'm in Conn. and thought I'd hear something from or about Frontier by now, nothing yet. Just correspodence from Comcast mentioning the AT&T sellout to Frontier, and promoting their own phone service. I still have tip & ring from AT&T into a modified 1A2 system. If the monthly fee rises much more than it is now I don't want to but probably should go with a VOIP telco provider with an analog adapter. I bought my cable/ethernet adapter (cable modem) last year. Couldn't find any locally with an RJ-11 for phone service so don't really want to start renting one from Comcast, although I've heard some good reports about their phone service compared to some others.
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I have a deep inside connect with AT&T and they tell me that the "last mile" game is being sold. AT&T wishes to sell off all the truck roll stuff to a private company so that they can concentrate on their core services. I don't know if that addresses the original post or not, but it seems like it does.
"Press play and record at the same time" -- Tim Alberstein
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