Frontier (Nasdaq: FTR) may be seeing some signs of FiOS video and broadband growth, but don't expect the telco to make a big update or expansion of its fiber anytime soon.
 |
|
Jureller |
"On our video strategy, you'll see for our FiOS markets that footprint remain as is," said John Jureller, executive vice president and chief financial officer, during the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. "We're probably not going to spend a significant amount of capital expanding our FiOS footprint, but we're going to try to emphasize and leverage customers that we do have."
Today, the telco continues to offer FiOS service in three markets it gained when it purchased Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) rural lines in 2010, including Fort Wayne, Ind., around Portland, Ore., and in some eastern suburbs of Seattle, Wash.
However, Frontier's stance on FiOS has been somewhat controversial.
The telco tried to implement a $500 installation fee for new video subscribers, while trying to back out of franchise agreements in some cities in Oregon, and increasing rates by 50 percent in Indiana.
While it did not break out how many FiOS video customers it had, the telco added 10,500 net video subscribers including FiOS video during the third quarter, ending the period with a total of 377,900 customers.
The telco has been also offering video via its relationship with satellite provider Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) and is looking at over the air technologies.
"We have a strong relationship with DISH and over time as we explore what else is happening in video technologies--whether it's over the air and is that meaningful for our customer set," Jureller said. "We'll continue to explore those things as they develop, but for now we'll continue to leverage our FiOS footprint and our relationship with Dish."
A more likely scenario for Frontier is to continue to grow its fiber to the node (FTTN) infrastructure to deliver a mix of ADSL2+ and VDSL2-based services. It has built out FTTN in 85 percent of its market.
Frontier is rumored to be working out a deal to license AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse technology. However, it has yet to make a formal announcement on those rumored plans.
For more:
- listen to the webcast (reg. req.)
Related articles:
Frontier's next-gen FTTN plan will leverage AT&T's U-verse technology
Frontier adds 26,800 new broadband subs in Q3, revenue declines to $1.18B
Frontier broadband subscribers climb to 1.8M as business customer churn slows
Frontier hit hard as copper thieves get bold, desperate in Washington
Frontier, FairPoint, others find new wholesale life with wireless backhaul