Comments on news posted 2014-05-08 14:28:41: Frontier will be raising the price of their standalone DSL service by $5 starting on May first, and will also soon be raising prices for the company's remaining FiOS video customers (who they already worked hard to scare away with rate hikes). ..
and verizon. Last time i spoke with frontier to see if a friend can get the fiber thats being ran just 10 feet from his house and many other around. The tech said "that fiber was bought from verizon so no we are not offering fiber service, we are'nt even offering fiber service in the whole west virginia in fact."
Its clear that Maggie Widerotter's and Daniel Mcarthy's #1 goal is to protect the dividend FTR has been famously known for. Increased prices will help in that goal short term. I suspect that they are afraid right now to hint at any future capital being spent to improve the existing last mile speeds in any of their markets. Saying that 3-6 mbps is justifiably ok is being a little remiss of what is happening in their own backyard.
If they raise my measly 39.99 6Mb DSL $5, they can kiss me goodbye. I've been more than patient waiting for a promised upgrade in my area. Just recently found out from a regional manager in the northeast that my area is looking at a completion date of late October.
Will they be taking that additional $5 per month in blood money and using it to fix their nearly universal backhaul and capacity problems for DSL customers? I won't hold my breath.
"We increased the price [... because it] better reflects the value of that offering, given the robust capability of our network and comparable pricing from our competitors,” Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter
Robust capability of our network? (laughs) Sure, feed a DSLAM a single GigE line and only give your customers 3-6mbps. That's 100-150 customers per DSLAM (or more, it depends how badly you oversubscribe it). Then don't worry about it. ever. Let it sit there until it falls apart.
After all, with all of the lobbyists in congress, they've got nothing to worry about. If a threat arrives, they'll attack it with lobbyists and kill it before it even moves. They've got to protect their profits somehow, and being honest is so last century ago. If people are willing to pay our idiotic rates for decades-ago speeds, why should we complain?
"Did anyone else first think they read the CEOs last name as Rottweiler? LOL
Sounds about right though....when those dogs bite and latch on they are a lot like pit bulls they clamp down and hang on relentlessly. Bahahhaaa!
I guess that is what Ms. Rottweiler does with customers money"
Funny you ask if anyone else read the name like that. That's exactly how I first read it to myself!!
Frontier doesn't even offer stand alone DSL here and that current price is already quite a bit higher than when I tried them for a bit several years ago.
Increased prices will help in that goal short term. I suspect that they are afraid right now to hint at any future capital being spent to improve the existing last mile speeds in any of their markets.
Revenue and ARPU are declining for the company. Frontier is "balancing customer retention with revenue objectives". Frontier reaffirmed around $600M in CAPEX, excluding the acquisition of AT&T assets.
Just because fiber is being ran, doesn't mean it is for the end users. Could be backbone, point to point, feed, or anything else hasn't got any mass customer termination gear at the end.
I'm sure if your friend wanted to get corporate services like OC, Sonet, or Metro-E that the fiber could come in handy though....
No, more like increasing free cash flow to cover the payouts to shareholders.
So instead of increasing customer satisfaction which would in turn generate larger dividends to shareholders from rising profits, the answer is to raise prices on already questionable service?
In the dialup says of VOIP, telcos tried and failed to end it's use in international calling which was virtually FREE at the time when by comparison, an international call could cost several DOLLARS PER MINUTE to various obscure parts of countries around the world.
Incumbent monopolies big or small are no different. Scum one and all.
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