It’s been 19 months since Frontier officially closed the transaction which at the time, bought them 4.8 million Verizon access lines and over 1 million broadband customers from rural markets in 14 states. The transaction was valued at $8.6 billion and Frontier characterized the deal as positioning them as the “…largest pure rural telecommunications carrier in the United States.”
Today, Frontier announced the successful conversion of all of those former Verizon properties and systems over to their systems. It’s all Frontier now, and the conversion was completed nine months ahead of schedule, according to a press release.
The conversion happened in phases, with West Virginia operations (where Verizon wireline services completely exited the state) first, followed by Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina (completed in Oct 2011). Most recently, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin were converted to Frontier. The conversions included all operating, financial and human resources systems.
“With all operations now on one set of systems, our employees will better serve our customers. Consistent processes and procedures help get new products and services to customers faster, enhance customer retention and market share, and improve the overall customer experience. Frontier has a great competency in successful system conversions which include fully integrated networks, call centers and technical operations. Every Frontier customer can be served by any employee, nationwide,” said Maggie Wilderotter, Chairman and CEO of Frontier in a press release.
The transition was not without challenge. Perhaps the most notable issue that plagued Frontier in this transition was their approach to the Verizon FiOS customer base they absorbed in the transaction. Extreme price hikes for FiOS services and complaints regarding content costs were just some of the issues regarding Frontier’s handling of their FiOS base. The situation created a mess for Frontier, particularly in the Northwest where regulators accused Frontier of reneging on promises they made to get the deal approved.
Frontier also ran into troubles in West Virginia, including labor problems and service performance issues.
