Frontier began offering its 1 Gbps service to select homes in Connecticut, marking another major market to get its emerging FTTH service.
Similar to other markets where it has rolled out 1 Gbps, the initial focus of Frontier's "FiberHouse" service is on new housing developments like Lexington Gardens in North Haven.
Joseph Ferraiolo, Frontier's general manager for New Haven County, told the New Haven Register that the telco plans to bring FiberHouse service to about 200 new single-family homes in North Haven over the next few months.
"We think this is a good option for us: new builds, small complexes," Ferraiolo said, according to the New Haven Register. "The developer is very happy with it and we're very happy with it."
Ferraiolo added that it is looking at bringing FiberHouse in Stamford and New Haven. He did not provide any specific timeline other than to say that the telco will spend time this year assessing the demand for the FiberHouse service.
Rumors of Connecticut being a target for its 1 Gbps service began to emerge in November when a group of consumers in a DSL Reports user forum said that the service provider began marketing the service. Today, the highest speed Frontier offers in Connecticut is a 100 Mbps DSL tier.
Similar to TDS Telecom's Fiberville initiative, Frontier's this "CTGig" website encourages consumers and businesses to fill out a form. After filling out the form, Frontier said a representative will reach out to interested customers to "determine if 1 Gig is available in your neighborhood."
Bringing 1 Gbps into parts of Connecticut comes as new initiatives like the CT Gig Project emerge. Led by a coalition of state and local officials, CT Gig has set a goal to create a 1 Gbps-capable open access fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network for the state.
In September 2014, the mayors of New Haven, West Hartford and Stamford issued what they called a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) asking for "information and dialogue with interested parties," which could include a mix of competitive providers, ILECs and cable operators.
While Frontier's roll out of 1 Gbps in North Haven is encouraging, it is limited to a small part of the market and there's no promise that it will roll out the service to a broader part of Connecticut or in other markets. Besides North Haven, Frontier now offers the 1 Gbps service in Durham, N.C. and select neighborhoods in Beaverton, Ore.
It has also indicated that it will consider expanding FiOS in the three wireline markets -- California, Florida and Texas -- it will gain when it completes the acquisition of Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) wireline properties in those three states.
Frontier CEO Daniel McCarthy told investors in May that while FTTH penetration is high in Texas, "we think there's a lot of opportunity to drive FiOS penetration in Florida and California."
For more:
- New Haven Register has this article
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