WASHINGTON—The FCC has approved Verizon Communications’ $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, which was first announced last September. As part of the FCC’s decision to grant a series of applications that transfer licenses and authorizations, New York-based Verizon will be required to end its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

The approval agreement also secures Verizon’s commitment to make major upgrades to Frontier's infrastructure that the FCC valued as being worth “billions” of dollars and promises to improve conditions for tower and telecom crews.

The deal is expected to close in early 2026. The acquisition adds the nation's “largest pure-play fiber internet provider” to Verizon's portfolio.

After President Donald Trump in January issued an executive order eliminating DEI programs at federal agencies, FCC chair Brendan Carr ended those programs at the FCC and said he would make eliminating such programs part of the approval process for mergers. Carr has also launched investigations into DEI practices at The Walt Disney Co. and Comcast.

“By approving this deal, the FCC ensures that Americans will benefit from a series of good and common-sense wins,” Carr said in a statement. “The transaction will unleash billions of dollars in new infrastructure builds in communities across the country—including rural America. This investment will accelerate the transition away from old, copper line networks to modern, high-speed ones. And it delivers for America’s tower and telecom crews who do the hard, often gritty work needed to build high-speed networks.”

In a post on X, Carr released the Verizon letter agreeing to end its DEI programs.

Verizon announced today that it is acquiring fiber network provider Frontier Communications in an all-cash transaction valued at $20 billion. Frontier—which emerged from bankruptcy in 2021—is the largest pure-play fiber internet provider in the U.S. and adding it to Verizon’s portfolio will significantly expand Verizon's fiber footprint across the nation, “accelerating the company’s delivery of premium mobility and broadband services to current and new customers” and “expand Verizon's intelligent edge network for digital innovations like AI and IoT,” Verizon said.

Verizon plans to integrate Frontier’s fiber network into Verizon's fiber and wireless assets, including its Fios network. Over approximately four years, Frontier has invested $4.1 billion upgrading and expanding its fiber network, and now derives more than 50% of its revenue from fiber products. Frontier’s 2.2 million fiber subscribers across 25 states will join Verizon’s approximately 7.4 million Fios connections in nine states and Washington, D.C. In addition to Frontier’s 7.2 million fiber locations, the company says it plans to build out an additional 2.8 million fiber locations by the end of 2026.

“Connectivity is essential in nearly every part of our lives and work, and no one delivers better than Verizon,” said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. “Verizon offers more choice, flexibility and value, and we continuously look for ways to provide the best product and network experience to our customers as we bolster our position as the provider of choice.”

Vestberg added: “The acquisition of Frontier is a strategic fit. It will build on Verizon’s two decades of leadership at the forefront of fiber and is an opportunity to become more competitive in more markets throughout the United States, enhancing our ability to deliver premium offerings to millions more customers across a combined fiber network.”

“Less than four years ago, we set out an ambitious plan to Build Gigabit America, the digital infrastructure this country needs to thrive for generations to come,” said Nick Jeffery, President and CEO of Frontier. “Today’s announcement is recognition of our progress building a best-in-class fiber network and delivering reliable, high-speed broadband to millions of customers across the country. It’s also a vote of confidence for the future of fiber. I am confident that this delivers a significant and certain cash premium to Frontier’s shareholders, while creating exciting new opportunities for our employees and expanding access to reliable connectivity for more Americans.”

Verizon says it expects to realize at least $500 million in run-rate cost synergies by year three from benefits of increased scale and distribution and network integration resulting from the acquisition of Frontier.

Frontier has announced that it is expanding its alliance with YouTube TV to offer discounts on YouTube TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package. 

The Sunday Ticket provides viewers with access to every out-of-market Sunday afternoon game. 

The discounts build on an longstanding alliance between the telco and YouTube TV and offers another example of how telcos and cable operators are turning to vMVPDs to provide video services on their platform. 

In 2021, Frontier announced a partnership with YouTube TV to offer the service to its customers and in March they expanded the relationship by providing a single billing option for broadband and live TV.

Starting August 2, Frontier internet customers who are subscribed to YouTube TV and sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket can save $100 through August 21. 

Also, new subscribers to both Frontier + YouTube TV can get $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket through August 21, the telco said. 

“Our customers now get more of the content they love, bigger savings, and the best internet product available,” said John Harrobin, executive vice president of consumer at Frontier in a blog post. “That’s a touchdown for the un-cable provider.”

NORWALK, Conn.—In another example of how telcos and cable operators are working to attract cord-cutters by bunding streaming services with their broadband offerings, Frontier has announced a new partnership with YouTube TV that will bundle the vMVPD’s streaming service with the telco’s fiber broadband offering in a single bill. 

In 2021, Frontier announced a partnership with YouTube TV to give customers the performance of a fiber internet connection and the content of a live TV service. This announcement builds on that by introducing a single billing option.

Frontier internet subs will get $10 a month off of YouTube TV for the first 12 months. 

As more consumers abandoned traditional pay TV packages, cable operators and telcos have increasingly embraced bundles of broadband and streaming services or triple play bundles of broadband, streaming TV and mobile. 

Comcast, for example offers a free package of streaming channels with its broadband services that can be upgraded subscription streaming TV packages and Charter offers cord cutters a service where they can package their broadband service with the local broadcast stations as well as 10 channels of their choosing. The two operators also have a joint venture Xumo where they are developing their own Ruku-like streaming platform. 

The Frontier deal is notable in that it is an early example of a telco partnering with an outside vMVPD to offer a bundled deal for TV and broadband rather than cutting deals directly with programmers to develop an exclusive pay TV package.  

“Our partnership with YouTube TV makes it easier for customers to ditch cable,” said John Harrobin, Frontier’s executive vice president of Consumer. “We take our position as the un-cable provider seriously and are constantly listening to consumers. Many want one source for internet and TV, and that’s what this partnership is all about. With Frontier and YouTube TV, there’s no settling for anything but the best.”

“Frontier is a natural partner for YouTube TV, due to our shared dedication to customer choice and flexibility,” said Tony Archibong, managing director of global product partnerships at YouTube. “With this next stage of our partnership, Frontier customers will be able to sign up and enjoy all the perks of YouTube TV such as unlimited DVR, the ability to watch on any screen, innovative features such as key plays and multiview, special pricing offers for NFL Sunday Ticket and the option to cancel the service at any time, all on the same bill as their Frontier internet.”

NORWALK, Conn.—Frontier has opened its Fiber Innovation Labs as part of an effort to Improve the customer experience and accelerate Frontier’s fiber-first strategy, the company said. 

“The work we are doing in our Fiber Innovation Labs will change the way we serve our customers and will ultimately change the industry,” said Veronica Bloodworth, Frontier’s chief network officer. “We have the best team in the business – they live and breathe innovation. They have been awarded several patents and are in the process of bringing those new inventions to life to deliver the best ‘un-cable’ internet experience to our customers. Be prepared to be amazed.”

The company also noted that its teams at the labs will work to invent and test next-generation technology for fiber deployment and connectivity while also looking for more efficient ways to do installation and repairs.

As part of Frontier’s Fiber Innovation Labs, the company has launched its first-ever outside plant facility in Lewisville, Texas. The facility is designed as a miniature suburban neighborhood that mimics the real-life experiences of its techs serving customers every day. It features roads, sidewalks, a state-of-the-art central office, a small house and a reconstructed manhole system. It also simulates weather elements and temperature changes. 

This will allow Frontier to test and learn new methods in real-world environments to install and maintain its fiber-optic network.

NORWALK, Conn.—Frontier has announced that it has rolled out a 5 Gig internet offering across its entire network, making it the first major ISP to deliver a network-wide 5 Gig fiber internet service, as opposed to a service available in a few select markets, to any customer on its network.

“We set a standard with network-wide 2 Gig internet last year, and now we’ve done it again,” said John Harrobin, Frontier’s executive vice president of Consumer. “Our 5 Gig offer meets the growing demand for multi-gig speeds and delivers the ‘un-cable’ experience by making the fastest upload and download speeds available throughout our fiber network.”

The 5 Gig offer starts at $154.99 a month with autopay and includes uncapped data + Wi-Fi router + free installation + premium tech support, Frontier said. 

Frontier said the 5 Gig fiber internet service enables customers to run multiple connected devices at their fastest possible speeds and provides customers with: 

• Symmetrical download and upload speeds at up to 5 gigabits per second.
• 125x faster upload speed than cable.
• 1.6 seconds to download Adobe Photoshop on PC (1GB).
• <36 seconds to download a House of Dragons episode in 4K (22 GB).
• <2 minutes to download a 100-minute 8K movie (67 GB).
• 99.9% network reliability.

NORWALK, Conn.—In one of the largest private infrastructure buildouts in the state’s history, Frontier Communications has announced plans to invest $800 million to expand its fiber-optic network in Connecticut. 

This investment is part of the company’s plans to deliver fast and reliable fiber broadband connectivity to over 800,000 homes and businesses by the end of 2025.

Frontier also reported that it is accelerating fiber plans for communities across the country with a plan to reach 10 million locations by the end of 2025. To date, Frontier has built fiber to 500,000 locations in the state of Connecticut.

“Connecticut is a key part of Building Gigabit America. We’re proud to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build critical digital infrastructure across the state,” said Veronica Bloodworth, Frontier’s Chief Network Officer. “Our superior fiber technology will deliver a reliable digital experience that will serve Connecticut for generations to come."

Since its fiber build began in late 2020, Frontier has built fiber to over 500,000 homes and businesses in more than 70 towns across Connecticut – including urban centers, such as Hartford, Norwalk, and Bridgeport; suburban areas, such as West Hartford, North Haven, and Glastonbury; and rural areas such as Union and Stafford Springs.

WASHINGTON—The FCC did not agree with Gray TV that Frontier Communications failed to negotiate in good faith, as well as meet other notification requirements, in the two sides’ recent retransmission dispute.

On Dec. 18, 2020, Frontier removed three Gray TV stations from its systems as the previous transmission consent agreement expired. A few days later on Dec. 22, Gray TV filed a good faith negotiation complaint against Frontier; it also claimed that Frontier violated customer notice requirements regarding service disruptions.

When it comes to good faith negotiations, the FCC specifically looks at whether a negotiating entity refused to negotiate regarding retransmission consent, but failure in itself is not an indicator of failing to negotiate in good faith. Also, a negotiating entity must designate a representative to have the authority to make binding representations on retransmission consent. In addition, proposals that are deemed “sufficiently outrageous” based on circumstances could point to a failure to negotiate in good faith.

In regards to customer notification, the FCC requires cable operators to notify subscribers of changes in service at least 30 days in advance of the change, “unless the change results from circumstances outside of the cable operator’s control,” which can include failed negotiations during the last 30 days of a contract.

Frontier filed a response with the FCC in January, saying that the two sides disagreed over the value of Gray’s stations. It also refuted claims by Gray that it had decided a month prior that it was going to drop the stations, evidenced by the removal of the stations from its channel lineup.

The FCC provided details in its decision that say Frontier and Gray did negotiate prior to the previous retransmission consent agreement expired, exchanging at least eight drafts of the renewal agreement. In regards to the channels being removed from the lineup, Frontier says that it did not remove them until it was clear the an agreement would not be reached, but in its haste to notify customers it failed to update the date on the channel lineup card.

Ultimately, the FCC sided with Frontier.

“[W]e agree with Frontier that it complied with the obligation to negotiate retransmission consent in good faith, including its per se obligation to negotiate retransmission consent, its per obligation to designate a representative with authority to make a binding representations on retransmission consent and compliance with the totality of the circumstances test. We also find that Frontier fulfilled its customer notice obligations,” the FCC said.

The full decision is available online. 

WASHINGTON—After Gray Television’s WWSB-TV was pulled from Frontier Communications channel lineups on Dec. 18, Gray TV made an official complaint that Frontier has not negotiated in good faith on a new retransmission agreement. However, as detailed in a response to the allegations, Frontier tells the FCC that the issue in negotiations is the gap in perceived value of the Gray TV station.

Gray’s allegations specifically argue that Frontier failed to negotiate in good faith and failed to notify customers “as soon as possible” once Frontier knew it would no longer have Gray TV’s consent to retransmit WWSB. However, according to Frontier’s filing to the commission, it participated in 25 days of negotiations and made three offers to have WWSB return to its lineup.

“The simple fact is that Frontier and Gray disagree over the value of Grays’ stations,” the filing reads. “... Gray now cries foul because Frontier did not agree with the financial terms that Gray wanted to force on Frontier and its customers.” Frontier argues that just because the two sides differed on terms is not a lack of good faith.

According to Frontier, Gray's claim that Frontier had known for a month that it would not extend its retransmission agreement and, per Fronter, that it removed Gray’s stations from its online channel guides several weeks before the deal expired or even negotiations began is inaccurate. Frontier says that it did not update its customer-facing channel guide until shortly after the agreement had expired, adhering FCC requirements.

Back in September, the FCC updated its notification rules in regard to carriage disruptions, which gave cable ops providers more flexibility.

“This retransmission consent negotiation was no different than the hundreds of other negotiations across the cable television industry,” Frontier said. “Gray’s complaint is simply an attempt by a broadcaster to add additional leverage to the retransmission consent process – either accept our last offer or we will claim that all your offers we rejected were fake and you never meant to reach agreement. Ultimately, the parties could not reach an agreement on the value of the stations but that does not render the negotiations a façade on Frontier’s end. The Commission should deny the Complaint.”

The full Frontier response is available online. 

PORTLAND, ORE.—The newly branded AWS Elemental, an Amazon Web Services company, is being put to use by Frontier Communications. Frontier has deployed AWS Elemental video processing for its Vantage TV for live and on-demand services.

AWS Elemental provides unified headends that support video processing in local markets and national channel video processing at Frontier’s super headend. It also supports Frontier TV streaming content to smart phones, tablets and other personal devices. The AWS Elemental Cloud transcodes VOD assets that require dynamic scaling. In addition, the AWS Elemental Delta video delivery platform supports packaging and digital rights management for the Frontier TV Everywhere app.

These services are helping Frontier Communications create an IPTV platform, per Dan Marshall, senior vice president of field operations for AWS Elemental.