Frontier launches local campaign to lure former SureWest business customers

Consolidated Communications (Nasdaq: CNSL) may be the newest telecom player in Elk Grove, Calif. thanks to its recent acquisition of SureWest, but Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) thinks its strong community ties will keep it in front.

The service provider has launched a campaign encouraging local businesses that are SureWest customers to consider Frontier, which unlike Consolidated has an established brand presence in Elk Grove, as their service provider of choice.

Any customer that decides it wants to transition from SureWest to Frontier or another local provider should be able to switch without any major headaches or penalties. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) mandated that SureWest and now Consolidated has to waive any early termination fees associated to its business accounts.

Now that Frontier has completed the conversion of the billing systems it onto its own systems from its acquisition of Verizon's rural lines in 14 states, the telco has been turning its focus to expanding the availability of key business services including Metro Ethernet and VoIP.

Besides offering business services, Frontier is also playing up its capabilities as a solutions provider that has local feet on the street.

"In addition to enterprise-grade services, we offer local Premium Tech Support and smart financing alternatives—so customers can work with a single local company to address all or any portion of their telecommunications needs," said Guy Gertsch, regional sales manager for Frontier in a release.

While it's unlikely Frontier will see an immediate mass of new business customers right away in the area, it will prompt Consolidated, which is a newcomer to the California market, to respond with its own campaign that it has the local support tools and faces to support business customer needs.  

For more:
- see the release

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