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Frontier FiOS Customers Lose Some Services With Transition
Largely Internet video options you may, may not have watched

While Frontier's $8.5 billion acquisition of six million users consists largely of DSL and landline customers, there are roughly 100,000 FiOS customers that also have been transitioned to Frontier. Back in June Frontier's now-changed FAQ insisted nothing was supposed to change for these FiOS customers except for a "more focused local management approach for all your services." Apparently not. Freshly-transitioned customers are now being informed that despite the fact the users will be paying the same price -- they're losing access to the following services:


•Verizon TV Central (allowed users to manage DVR recordings via wireless)

•Online TV Listings

•Remote DVR Access Online (allowed users to schedule recordings online)

•FiOS Mobile Remote (allowed users to use phone as set top remote)

•FiOS TV Online (Verizon's "TV Anywhere" initiative that offered Internet video)

•HBO Go access (HBO's new broadband video portal)

•Epix Online access (additional Internet video offering)

Depending on how much you use these, this may or may not be a big deal to you. Note that Frontier is promising to finish up any of the remaining build out requirements that were demanded of Verizon under already-signed franchise agreements. However those build outs will be minimal -- and Frontier's in no financial position (especially now that they've taken on $3 billion in Verizon debt) to seriously deploy fiber to the home technology any time soon.
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Lemme Guess

Prices are not being lowered to make up for the reduction of services?
gorehound
join:2009-06-19
Portland, ME

gorehound

Member

Re: Lemme Guess

Get a lawyer and the FAQ from June and sue the hell out of this scumbag company.I live in Maiine.Need I say more???

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by gorehound:

Get a lawyer and the FAQ from June and sue the hell out of this scumbag company.I live in Maiine.Need I say more???
I wouldn't go to the courts for this one. I just think that if Frontier is offering less than what its customers got with the original Verizon service, they should pay less.

Wishful thinking, I know.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
and why should they? These are VZ services. Not Frontier. How can Frontier keep a service that is NOT their's nor do they own the rights to. VZ owns the brand of FiOS and a good share of what is offered to those customers. Prices shouldn't go down just because you lose a service that was and is only for VZ customers. Get over it already.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by hottboiinnc4:

How can Frontier keep a service that is NOT their's nor do they own the rights to.
And did I say that Frontier should be expected to continue offering these services?
said by hottboiinnc4:

Prices shouldn't go down just because you lose a service that was and is only for VZ customers. Get over it already.
So you are OK with paying the same amount of money and getting less for that money.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru

MVM

Re: Lemme Guess

said by pnh102:

So you are OK with paying the same amount of money and getting less for that money.
They are value added services. They add value to your service, but you aren't really paying extra specifically for them. It's like asking for a discount at McDonald's if they hold the napkins.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

aaronwt

Premium Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by cdru:

said by pnh102:

So you are OK with paying the same amount of money and getting less for that money.
They are value added services. They add value to your service, but you aren't really paying extra specifically for them. It's like asking for a discount at McDonald's if they hold the napkins.
Yes and some of those service would require you to use their crappy DVR. Which really is a detriment.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

1 edit

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Lemme Guess

and those services are not being killed that Frontier won't be using and if you have problems with their crappy DVR tell VZ to tell MSFT to build better menus and such.
But after all I thought FiOS was then next best thing since Slice Bread. I guess its not after all.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine to aaronwt

Member

to aaronwt
said by aaronwt:

said by cdru:

said by pnh102:

So you are OK with paying the same amount of money and getting less for that money.
They are value added services. They add value to your service, but you aren't really paying extra specifically for them. It's like asking for a discount at McDonald's if they hold the napkins.
Yes and some of those service would require you to use their crappy DVR. Which really is a detriment.
The worst part is that the move to Frontier breaks MRV for TiVo. So you're double screwed in that they cripple the FiOS DVR and then prevent you from getting MRV on TiVo or other third party DVRs.
mrken30
join:2010-06-29
Hillsboro, OR

mrken30 to cdru

Member

to cdru
or like paying for snack boxes on an airline when they used to give them for free
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
for something i wouldnt use yes why not? i don't use them nor are they included in the price as much as people and Karl seem to think about on here.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
Maybe I am missing something here. Were they charging extra for this feature?

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by battleop:

Maybe I am missing something here. Were they charging extra for this feature?
Nope, they were included as part of the FiOS TV service. (If you only had Internet, for example, you did not get access to Epix online)
rifleman69
join:2006-04-12
Beaverton, OR

rifleman69 to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

and why should they? These are VZ services. Not Frontier. How can Frontier keep a service that is NOT their's nor do they own the rights to. VZ owns the brand of FiOS and a good share of what is offered to those customers. Prices shouldn't go down just because you lose a service that was and is only for VZ customers. Get over it already.
Frontier is a joint owner for two years minimum with the word "FiOS". Try again.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Lemme Guess

Frontier is actually NOT. VZ trade marked that brand long before Frontier even agreed to purchase the footprint they did. The only thing VZ is providing them is the content to TV and allowing customers to still use their current email accounts, which at any time VZ could change their mind.

Newftrtech
@mymmode.com

Newftrtech

Anon

Re: Lemme Guess

Try again. Frontier purchased the rights to the name FiOS and the slogan "This is FiOS, this is big" for FIVE years.
wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Miami, FL

wierdo

Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by Newftrtech :

Try again. Frontier purchased the rights to the name FiOS and the slogan "This is FiOS, this is big" for FIVE years.
That doesn't mean they get free licenses for the technology behind these services or the essentially free Internet transit to deliver it when they're using the services away from home, like Verizon has.

I've got no skin in the game, obviously, and it is crappy that they implied earlier that these services wouldn't be going away, but it's a lot more expensive for them to provide the services than it was for Verizon.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: Lemme Guess

said by wierdo:

said by Newftrtech :

Try again. Frontier purchased the rights to the name FiOS and the slogan "This is FiOS, this is big" for FIVE years.
That doesn't mean they get free licenses for the technology behind these services or the essentially free Internet transit to deliver it when they're using the services away from home, like Verizon has.
Show me the post where anyone said that because Frontier licensed the brand name "FiOS" that they also said that entitled Frontier to the technology.

Right. This part of the conversation developed because some people thought that Frontier customers no longer had "FiOS" when in fact they do.

BTW, customers were warned that most of those services would no longer be available after July 1, every time they logged into the website to use those services.
rifleman69
join:2006-04-12
Beaverton, OR

rifleman69 to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

Frontier is actually NOT. VZ trade marked that brand long before Frontier even agreed to purchase the footprint they did. The only thing VZ is providing them is the content to TV and allowing customers to still use their current email accounts, which at any time VZ could change their mind.
One word: Licensing. Look it up sometime smart guy.

ITALIAN926
join:2003-08-16

ITALIAN926 to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
nobody uses those services lol
vz cool tech
join:2009-04-03
Dallas, TX

vz cool tech to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
To be fair, none of the items listed were part of the original Fios TV rollout; they were all added later as "free extras", and the cost of service wasn't increased as a result of adding them.
ssavoy
Premium Member
join:2007-08-16
Dallas, PA

ssavoy

Premium Member

Innovation?

I'm wondering if anything creative actually comes out of Frontier. They seem to buy out every local phone company they can find and run them to the ground. (Now, Verizon's not a local company...but still).
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

Please! All of these services were part of Verizon. You tell me how VZ TV Central should be offered to a customer that is NO LONGER Verizon's? Also Remote DVR? That was Verizon's service. Mobile Remote? Again VZ.

And actually FiOS is ACTUALLY a VZ service. NOT Frontier.

Get over it people. They won't be able to keep everything and that will be argued and NOBODY will be able to get out of their contracts as the states are most likely already aware of this WELL before Frontier even said anything.
firehawk6189
join:2003-05-29

firehawk6189

Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

The channels are all the same, on demand is still the same, the dvr and the multi room function is the same. 99.99 percent of customer's won't care about the few features lost.

Jim Kirk
Premium Member
join:2005-12-09
49985

Jim Kirk

Premium Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

Still, less features for the same price. It's not like the customer lost them because they switched to a different provider.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

but Frontier has no control over those services as those were VZ offered services. What happens if your power company was sold and the new one charges you to rent that meter now? Should you pay for that meter? YEP! Why? New Company offering the service now and you go by what they can and can not due and maybe they pay for the rent on that meter from the previous power company. But OPPS! you already rent that meter if you elect to have a "marketing company" provide your service.

Frontier has no obligation to lower the prices regardless.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako

Premium Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

They should do whatever needs to be done to offer the services. They didn't know they were buying these customers? When they were FiOS customers they were getting the service from Verizon, Frontier needs technicians trained for the service, where did they come from overnight? Frontier needs to have contracts to distribute the video streams, where did this come from? I think they are just too cheap to do it.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

and that is speaking from someone that has U-Verse? Talk about someone being cheap. Talk to your own provider. But Frontier is working on the contracts they need. And it can be done within 30days if they go to the right companies to get the content they own. But don't don't look for them to lease more products from VZ than they need to. And these services are one of them.

Also as far as content goes Frontier may have to build their own headend out in order to even give the customers TV channels they are currently paying for. That takes time.

skuv
@rr.com

skuv

Anon

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

That would suck to build out a headend just for 100,000 customers. That's barely enough for a cable company to build a headend with satellite and fiber feeds for channels.

If Frontier was smart, they'd just continue to pay Verizon to provide the channel lineup to them. And then Frontier can just concentrate on the services.

Or Frontier can phase out TV service when all the FIOS TV contracts are up. Or they can start offering Dish or DirecTV like AT&T and Verizon.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

said by skuv :

Or they can start offering Dish or DirecTV like AT&T and Verizon.
They already do -- and have been from before the sale was announced over a year ago.

Newftrtech
@mymmode.com

Newftrtech to skuv

Anon

to skuv
Frontier already owns most of what you would call a headend. The are called Video Hub Offices and there ate three of them. Indiana, Washington, and Oregon.

The VHOs house much of what makes the FiOS TV service tick.

What they don't have is their own feed for the national channel lineup. Currently this comes in leased from VZs fiber ring.

Plant a handful of TVRO sat dishes and distribute that feed to the VHOs and you're good, right?

Frontierfios
@verizon.net

Frontierfios to joako

Anon

to joako
When Frontier assumed the helm here, they also picked up all the FiOS technicians, so don't worry about them having trained people. As a new Frontier employee, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the changes in the works: less than one week lead-times on installs, vs 2 weeks for Vz; a calling system where the only menu question is "English or Espanol?" before you speak to someone; All tech support handled in the USA.

I say kudos to Frontier, they are running the phone company with a "service first" ideology, which will generate and keep more US jobs and put more money into our local economy instead of foreign workers' and investors' pockets.
ssavoy
Premium Member
join:2007-08-16
Dallas, PA

1 edit

ssavoy to hottboiinnc4

Premium Member

to hottboiinnc4
Well, they should lower the price.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to hottboiinnc4

Premium Member

to hottboiinnc4
It's interesting to note that I have AT&T U-Verse and they call their online thing "U-Verse Central" I can manage my DVR from my cell phone or web page.

So I don't see why Frontier can't offer these same services. Of course it won't be called "Verizon FiOS Central" but who seriously cares what name the marketing department gave it?
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: SUE LMAO! Cry about it???

Well.hmmm...maybe because Frontier doesn't run that half of the company and its being contracted through with VZ to run that portion still. ATT has their own contracts in place for the Central services. You can't except Frontier to have all these in place over night or in 6 days.
rifleman69
join:2006-04-12
Beaverton, OR

rifleman69 to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

And actually FiOS is ACTUALLY a VZ service. NOT Frontier.
Wrong! FiOS is a service of Frontier as well. Try again.

•••

fisoman
@144.70.2.x

fisoman to hottboiinnc4

Anon

to hottboiinnc4
Customers have a 30 day window to cancel if they don't like the changes.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR

darcilicious

Premium Member

Starz

Also access to StarzPlay was removed.

And actually, customers WERE notified that these services would be going away -- just not via the FAQ at the Frontier site.
darcilicious

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: Starz

Click for full size
Website notice I saw every time I logged into Verizon Central prior to July 1.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA

1 edit

aaronwt

Premium Member

They aren't with FiOS anymore

Why would they still have access to FiOS services if they don't have FiOS any more?

••••••••••

Mannus
Premium Member
join:2005-10-25
Fort Wayne, IN

Mannus

Premium Member

Frontier FIOS

Just got my new bill from Frontier today and it has "Frontier FIOS" on it. Price is still the same(49.99 for 15/2).

•••
Bob61571
join:2008-08-08
Washington, IL

Bob61571

Member

Let's Rename Frontier's FiOS to....

something else. People, we have a deadline, set by Verizon on this. Let's run it by the marketing committee.

1) FriOS --sounds like a fried food, not good choice in today's health-conscious climate.

2) FrONTOS -- sounds like a possible gender slur, let's move on.

3) FrITOS --- (pronounced Fry Toes). Possible lawsuit from national snack food company, next....

4) FrONTIEROS -- sounds vaguely like an old Ford truck model, not modern enough. Also, sounds like a Spanish word, possible problem from both Hispanics and rednecks.

5) ViOS -- I like it!! Don't understand why Verizon claimed FiOS, when their brand starts with the letter "V". If they can steal our "F", let's steal their "V".

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4

Member

Re: Let's Rename Frontier's FiOS to....

how about :
Froiber: come one come all get your froiber today!!
or
Friber: We beat the pants off of cable, call now for Friber tv service.
jnemesh3
join:2008-04-30
Kenmore, WA

jnemesh3

Member

Dont forget extra DRM with every subscription!

Dont forget that they also changed EVERY channel to "copy once" so limiting our ability to place shift within the home and to portable devices. Verizon had us set to "copy freely", except for premium channels like HBO and "on demand" content.

I am soooo pissed that I am likely to drop all TV service and just use Netflix/Hulu.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: Dont forget extra DRM with every subscription!

While I'm the first to say that the CCI implementation was a complete wreck, from what I've read from other customers, it's not every channel and in fact, there's not rhyme or reason as to why some channels are copy-once and others are not.

Also, it was Verizon who did this, not Frontier; and Vz has informed our local franchise authority that they will be implementing this across the entire Vz footprint so it was only a matter of time regardless of the sale or not.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Follow The Bounciing Ball

I've been through the mergers and takeovers several times. It starts when little local company that offers pretty good services sells out to a large telco or cable giant. Now sometimes services get better but generally they don't. Then the next thing that happens is big company sells its mid-markets to a Frontier or a startup like Suddenlink and service usually degrades considerably.- which is what happened when Frontier got conned into buying Verizon in Illinois. Sometimes these companies recover and have stellar service, but generally it is a smoke screen prior to reselling again. The segment of society that gets hurt the worst is the folks who live in rural America.

Been there and done that about 10 times in 18 years. It is an old scam. The only way to avoid it is to live in a large city in a highly populated area. .

Anonymous1
@comcast.net

Anonymous1

Anon

Re: Follow The Bounciing Ball

I live in a large city with a large population and this still happens to me.

Condorcito
@verizon.net

Condorcito

Anon

Frontier internet

Frontier's Internet flow is getting worse. Their tech phone service is ran by robots, literally. I am sorry I switched from their competitor!. Tell your friends to stay away from Verizon and Frontier internet goods ... to save money and aggravation.

irritated
@verizon.net

irritated

Anon

service??

Just handed the phone over to my daughter's bf to talk to Frontier service tech. We were promised a tech would be here between 9am - 2pm today to replace my daughter's set top box. Her service is tied to the wireless router downstairs and they can't figure out why. The guy on the phone tells me they didn't create a ticket to be out here today. So why is he calling me??? Great service. I might just take the day off tomorrow so that I can call customer no service and tell them a thing or two.