Frontier FiberOptic (formerly known as Frontier FiOS or FiOS from Frontier) is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service that operates over a

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

communications network in California, Texas, Florida, Indiana, and South Carolina. Service is offered in some areas of the United States by

Frontier Communications Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (known as Citizens Utilities Company until May 2000 and Citizens Communications Company until July 31, 2008) is an American telecommunications company. The company previously served primarily rural areas and s ...

in areas built out and formerly served by

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas ...

, using the same infrastructure as its Fios service. Other service providers often use fiber optics in the network backbone and existing

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

or coax infrastructure for residential users. Frontier's service began in 2009 with the acquisition of portions of Verizon's network, and networked areas expanded through 2015 through similar acquisitions, although some areas do not have service or cannot receive TV and phone service because of

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

agreements.

History

In May 2009, Frontier announced that it would acquire

Verizon Communications Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

' 4.8 million landlines leased to residential and small business customers in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, for $8.6 billion. In addition to the purchase of copper lines, Frontier also acquired the fiber-optic system built by Verizon in Fort Wayne, around Portland, and in some eastern suburbs of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. These operations would continue to operate under the FiOS branding used by Verizon. Frontier initially stated that it had no plans for changes after the transition. However, the company later attempted to institute a $500 installation fee for new television subscribers, backed out of franchise agreements in some cities in Oregon, and increased rates by 50% in Indiana. Frontier later retracted the rate increases and installation fee but has not reclaimed franchises in the cities that it relinquished and not before losing FiOS TV subscribers. On February 5, 2015, Frontier announced that it would also acquire Verizon's wireline assets in California, Florida and Texas for $10.5 billion. The transition took effect April 1, 2016; technical issues with the integration resulted in a disruption of service for many FiOS users in the markets, which continued for some in the weeks that followed. In May 2016, California assemblyman

Mike Gatto Michael Anthony Gatto, (born October 19, 1974)California ...

announced a hearing over the matter, stating that "there has been an alarming rate of telephone and Internet outages in Southern California and consumers are frustrated with the lack of a solution to this months-long ordeal". During the hearing, Frontier West president Melinda White stated that most of the issues were caused by incomplete customer data provided by Verizon for importation into its systems. White stated that less than 1 percent of its customers were affected, and that it would provide service credits to affected subscribers while it finished addressing the issues. Republican assemblyman Jim Patterson accused the

California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or PUC) is a regulatory agency that regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies. In addition ...

(CPUC) of not placing enough oversight on the transition, deeming it a "failure of the fundamental role and responsibility" of the commission. In May 2020, Frontier completed a sale of its assets in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

to Ziply Fiber including the fiber-optic systems that it had acquired from Verizon in Washington and Oregon. In late 2020, Frontier dropped the FiOS branding, renaming the service Frontier FiberOptic.

References

External links

* {{Telecommunications Cable television companies of the United States Internet service providers of the United States Broadband Fiber to the premises Video on demand 2009 establishments in the United States Frontier Communications