FCC Report: Frontier Improves Service by 13 Percent

Nathan Woodside
Published: February 15, 2013

Broadband internet service provided by Frontier Communications Corporation has improved 13 percent since April, according to a report released this week by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The report contains the most recent results from the FCC’s Measuring Broadband America program.

Numbers included in the document indicate Frontier’s sustained actual download speeds increased by 13 percent between measurements taken in April and September of last year.

That’s the largest increase of any other internet service provider included in the report.

In a released statement, Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier Chairman and CEO said, “We are gratified that our investment in rural America is paying off in the form of better speeds and network performance for our customers.  We will continue to transform Frontier into the nation’s leading provider of broadband with a focus on rural America.  I expect nothing less from our nearly 15,000 employees across the country who have been solidly executing on our plan.”

Frontier has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in capital expenditures throughout its 27-state service territories, according to the released statement. Frontier has met or, in many cases, exceeded commitments made to individual state commissions during a transformative transaction in 2010.  The money has been spent to connect once underserved and unserved areas and to relieve internet congestion in many of these areas.

The company says Illinois benefited from the third most turn ups of any other state Frontier serves with 101,799.

The FCC also reported that internet service providers examined were, on average, delivering 96 percent of advertised speeds during the peak consumer usage hours of weekdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time. The February 2013 Report found little change, with a calculated average for the report of 97 percent.

“Only one service provider had a significant change: Frontier improved its performance by 13 percent,” the report states.