STAMFORD, Conn., Jun 29, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Frontier Communications Corporation’s (NYSE: FTR) focus on the commercial market is delivering industry-leading products and services to its national customer base.
According to Pete Hayes, Frontier’s Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales and Support, “Our commercial business is positioned for increased growth and profitability as Enterprise, Public Sector, Medium and Small Businesses customers seek cost-effective end-to-end solutions.” He added that the planned completion of the company’s transformational transaction with Verizon Communications on July 1st will increase Frontier’s service capabilities, geographic coverage and customer demand. “Our Commercial segment has great market potential, an outstanding group of existing and potential customers and a solid business pipeline.”
Hayes noted the following highlights:
* Penn Foster, based in Pennsylvania, selected Frontier to deploy Multiprotocol LabelSwitching (MPLS) for 63 sites. MPLS directs and carries data from one network node to the next, making it easy to create “virtual links” between distant nodes. Penn Foster, which offers programs of study via distance learning, chose Frontier for its responsiveness and the effectiveness of its design. In a separate project, Frontier upgraded Penn Foster’s communications systems to VoIP networking and application software. The company cited Frontier’s committed relationship, system design/deployment, and financial flexibility as critical to its selection.
* First Columbia Bank in Pennsylvania chose Frontier to deploy MPLS for a nine-site network. It switched to Frontier based on the company’s responsiveness, design plans and value positioning.
* AICUP (Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of PA) contracted with Frontier for Internet Access and a Wide Area Network (WAN) consortium of 13 institutions of higher education in northeast and southeast Pennsylvania. The relationship has significant technological and financial benefits for the parties. Frontier was selected after an 18-month review process and the company’s cooperation with AICUP’s mission, the relationship between the parties and the creativity of design and funding were decisive factors.
* In Georgia, the Bulloch County School District awarded Frontier a contract to install a VoIP communications system for a network of 22 schools. The contract award took into account Frontier’s responsiveness, creativity of design and relationship with the district.
* The Fairmont School District in Minnesota sought to increase its capabilities while adhering to a budget. Frontier met its needs with a high-quality design that was an upgrade of Centrex to District Wide Communications to Premise Based VoIP.
* Consulted about 911 upgrades in New York’s Fulton and Montgomery counties, Frontier installed a shared 911 system that enhances communications capabilities, reduces costs and pre-positions the customers for advanced offerings. The system’s geo-diversity provides critical redundancy: an outage at one 911 center means calls will be seamlessly and expeditiously picked up by the other center.
* In Arizona, Frontier worked closely with local police and emergency centers to install call processing solutions that put new PBXs at Public Safety Answering Points, bringing the latest call traffic and statistical reporting within the centers.
* Frontier installed seven Mitel 3300 PBXs for the Kingman, Arizona Unified School District, enabling 4-digit dialing throughout a district serving 7,200 students. The school district’s purchase was based upon a strong relationship with Frontier’s local account manager and its local operations, advanced technology and responsiveness.
* The Sunrise Ski Resort in Arizona’s White Mountains, owned and operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe, now has a Mitel 3300 phone system installed by Frontier that seamlessly links the resort’s lodge and hotel.
* Frontier has agreements in place to deploy fiber-optic based Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) to several enterprise-level accounts in its Rochester, New York market that will generate more than $10 million in revenue over the next few years. DWDM technology provides highly reliable solutions in support of significant bandwidth requirements by placing data from different sources together on an optical fiber, with each signal carried at the same time on its own separate light wavelength.
* Many Frontier customers run mission-critical applications in the company’s SAS 70 Secure Cyber Center in Rochester, New York. This 10,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility offers premier data center security and storage applications, a self-healing SONET network, scalable Internet connectivity through Frontier’s core network infrastructure, and redundant IP backbone. A tour of the center is available at http://www.frontier.com/cybercenter/tour/flash_content/index.html
“Frontier offers its Commercial customers a robust end-to-end network, equipment and management platform for mission-critical applications, communications and services,” said Hayes. “We offer high-touch customer support and dedicated account managers who know how to design custom solutions to meet our customers’ desktop, IT and communication needs.”
