Frontier Communications executive leadership is under fire as the company's debt obligations mount -- and the company's customers continue to flee from lack of meaningful network upgrades. You'll recall that Frontier has been acquiring unwanted DSL customers in Connecticut (AT&T) and Florida, California and Texas (Verizon) -- apparently in the belief that bigger automatically meant better. But the company horribly bungled its acquisition of Verizon's assets, resulting in prolonged outages and a customer service nightmare for many of its subscribers last year.
Merger integration issues, slow speeds, high prices and limited upgrades resulted in another
102,000 departing subscribers last quarter, leaving many watching closely to see if things got worse or better during the traditionally slow second quarter.
And company executives have been consistently under fire for blaming everything but themselves for the ongoing issues.
That includes the company's own employees. Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy recently directed the company to slash bonuses and merit pay increases -- but only for lower-level employees. As a result, employee morale at the company has reached an "all time low" in recent months.
And as concerns begin to mount among investors and customers alike, Frontier is putting on a brave face. Frontier didn't want to talk to LA Times Reporter David Lazarus when asked whether the company's future was at risk, instead offering a prepared statement.
"Frontier Communications is committed to improving the customer experience, reducing churn, stabilizing revenue and generating cash flow," the company insists. "Our new capital allocation policy will allow us to pay down debt and lower our leverage ratio, while still paying a meaningful dividend. We are investing in our networks, growing our commercial business segment and reducing costs.”
The statement added that "we have learned hard lessons and are doing what it takes to become better."
In other words, according to Frontier, everything's fine, and there's nothing whatsoever to worry about.