Verizon completes $10.5bn transaction with Frontier
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Verizon completes $10.5bn transaction with Frontier

Verizon has completed the sale of wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier Communications for £10.5 billion, which sees 9,400 employees transferred in the deal.

The acquired businesses include approximately 3.3 million voice connections, 2.1 million broadband connections, and 1.2 million FiOS® video subscribers, as well as the related incumbent local exchange carrier businesses. New customers will begin receiving monthly bills starting in mid-April.

"This is a transformative acquisition for Frontier that delivers first-rate assets and important new opportunities given our dramatically expanded scale," said Daniel McCarthy, Frontier's president and chief executive officer.

"It significantly expands our presence in three high-growth, high-density states, and improves our revenue mix by increasing the percentage of our revenues coming from segments with the most promising growth potential." 

Over the weekend, a number of customers complained that there were lengthy internet outages as a result of the switch. Frontier at first insisted that the problems were not serious but the tone had changed with Mike Flynn, Frontier’s regional president, telling Tampa Bay Times: "I know we stubbed our toe a little bit here."

Flynn added to the publication that a service outage for AT&T customers on Friday was caused by Frontier when a piece of equipment on the fibre-optic network was improperly set, leading to a service interruption for some larger commercial customers.

Verizon is set to focus on its landline operations in Northeast markets as a result of the deal, which was first announced in February 2015.





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