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Frontier Raises Its Broadband GameFrontier Communications has added symmetrical 1-Gig service to its broadband arsenal, along with a nimble 200 Mbit/s introductory speed tier, as the telco continues to battle against cable operators and braces for a new wave of fixed 5G competition. Frontier Communications Corp. (NYSE: FTR) initially brought these services to about half its Fios and Vantage Fiber footprint, with plans underway to extend them to more areas later this year and into 2019, according to a company official. Frontier's Fios footprint includes major urban areas in Southern California and six counties along Florida's Central West Coast, as well as parts of Dallas, Indiana, Oregon and Washington. Its Vantage Fiber footprint covers portions of Connecticut, North Carolina and Minnesota. The new, cap-free 1-Gig offering sells for $200 per month as a standalone, with or without a contract. Frontier's new symmetrical 200 Mbit/s offering, serving as the introductory speed tier for residential customers, is being sold in a $90-per-month triple-play bundle, in a $60 per month double-play package, and $50 per month as a standalone. Frontier also is introducing a 300/300 Mbit/s tier in parts of Indiana, Oregon and Washington.
Frontier's new packages arrive as cable operators continue to dominate the US residential broadband market. The top US cable operators added about 585,000 broadband subs in Q2, while the nation's largest telcos combined to lose about 130,000, according to Leichtman Research Group Inc. (LRG) . For its part, Frontier lost 32,000 broadband subs in Q2 2018, lowering its grand total to 3.86 million subscribers. The new 200-meg introductory tier also enters play as Frontier and other wireline broadband service providers prepare for competition from 5G Home, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ)'s new fixed wireless broadband service that launched on October 1 in limited parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. (See 5G Fixin' to Become 'Largest Existential Threat' to Broadband Providers – Analysts, Verizon's Home-Grown 5G Arrives Today and Verizon to Launch Fixed 5G Service on Oct. 1.) For more about this topic and other competitive implications associated with Frontier's new slate of broadband offerings, please read the story posted at our sister site, Light Reading. (See Frontier Goes Gigabit in Its Fios & Vantage Fiber Footprint.) Related posts:
— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading |
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