Frontier, the financially troubled telecom previously dogged by lawmakers and consumer rights advocates, has officially become the first national provider to offer a 2Gbps fibre plan across its entire network.
The new service will cost eligible customers in Texas, Florida, California, Indiana, West Virginia, and Connecticut $US149.99 ($208) per month and will feature symmetrical 2Gbps download and upload speeds. That sizable price point is nearly double the cost of Frontier’s 1Gbps service ($US74.99 ($104)) and around $US50 ($69) more than Google’s comparable, though less available, 2Gbps fibre plan.
In addition to the speed boost, Frontier says customers will also receive total home Wi-Fi, Amazon Fire TV, and a voice line along with other features. Frontier’s also laying out some additional bait to get users to board the high-speed broadband train early, claiming it will give its first 1,000 customers a 43-inch Amazon Fire TV and a Logitech webcam.
The release marks the latest example of beleaguered Frontier’s hasty comeback. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2020 partly due to what management described as a “significant under-investment in fibre deployment.” The company had reportedly gone about $US17.5 ($24) billion into debt after buying costly wirelines from AT&T and Verizon.
As part of the bankruptcy, Frontier said it would sell its operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana to Northwest Fibre for $US1.4 ($2) billion and continue offering service in 25 states. The battered telecom emerged from chapter 11 last May with a multi-year goal of expanding its reach to three million more new homes and businesses. Since then, Frontier has seen some light at the end of the tunnel.
In Q4 2021 the telecom recorded its first quarterly subscriber growth in five years, adding 9,000 overall broadband customers, Fierce Wireless notes. Frontier says it totaled 45,000 fibre customers that month, a huge increase from its previous record of 29,000 customers reached the previous quarter.
Though 2Gbps fibre services certainly aren’t common by any means, they are starting to pop up in more places. Verizon recently showed off a limited symmetrical 2Gbps broadband tier in New York City with plans to expand throughout its Fios network later this year. AT&T meanwhile added 2Gbps and 5Gbps speed tiers for its home and business broadband services earlier this year, though those speeds are still only available to around 5.2 million customers spread out across 70 metro areas
You can type your address in here to see whether or not Frontier’s new service is available in your area.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.