Frontier will not raise rates in Connecticut for 3 years

To get approval of its acquisition of AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse video and satellite TV operations in Connecticut, Frontier Communications cut a deal with the Connecticut Attorney General in which it agreed to not increase the rates for basic primary residential service for 36 months. The company also said it will offer its basic broadband and stand-alone basic broadband product at or below Frontier's current prices.

As part of the deal, Frontier also committed to investing $64 million over 2015, 2016 and 2017 to expand and improve broadband in Connecticut and to accelerate its inspection of the outside plant it is acquiring, including telephone poles, to ensure the network is robust and reliable. Frontier will also simplify and improve the telephone pole administration within its Connecticut footprint.

Last December Frontier announced it was acquiring AT&T's landline and U-verse operations in Connecticut for $2 billion in cash. At the time, the company said it could achieve $200 million in annual savings without reducing AT&T's landline and U-verse workforces. In June the company issued a press release saying it would add 85 new union jobs, among other incentives.

If all goes well, and the FCC approves, the acquisition will be completed in the last quarter of the year, providing Frontier with almost 3,000 Connecticut workers and a million statewide customers.

Frontier's second-quarter residential revenues rose slightly to $497 million, up from $496 million in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, Frontier had 1.93 million broadband customers and 393,900 total video customers.

For more:
- see this press release

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