Verizon Sells Three States' Worth Of FIOS To Frontier

In a $10.5 billion deal, Verizon just sold three states' worth of wireline subscribers to Frontier. Customers in California, Texas, and Florida will soon be Frontier customers, rather than Verizon FIOS users. Via their announcement, Verizon says "at the end of fourth-quarter 2014, these operations served approximately 3.7 million voice connections; approximately 2.2 million high-speed data customers, including approximately 1.6 million FiOS Internet customers; and approximately 1.2 million FiOS Video customers." Verizon's reason for selling? To focus on the East Coast.

Verizon's deal will also lease 11,300 towers to American Tower Corporation. In that separate deal, American tower will also purchase 165 towers for $5 billion, which Verizon will use for a share-repurchasing program.

this doesn't spell the end of FIOS — just FIOS outside of the East Coast. Verizon didn't give specifics on where they'd be focussing their new FIOS efforts.

11,000 current Verizon employees are expected to transition to Frontier.

It's not clear what Frontier might have planned for their new customers, but CEO Maggie Wilderotter said "these properties align with Frontier's disciplined strategic focus and enhance our footprint with rich fiber-based assets", hinting that fiber-optic FIOS may be in the offing under Frontier.

Verizon and Frontier expect their deal to close in the first half of 2016, should regulators look favorably on the proposal. The tower leasing and sell-off to American Tower Corporation could finalize by the end of 2015.

Source: Verizon