Frontier serves up $20, no contract DSL plan

Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) on Monday introduced a $20 per month DSL service offer for its residential and business customers in the regions it serves.

With a qualifying phone service, residential customers can get up to a 6 Mbps DSL connection beginning at $19.99. For this offer, Frontier is giving consumers a three-year price lock on voice and broadband, and has waived contract and early termination fees. In addition, Frontier won't charge residential customers an Internet activation fee and it is offering a free self-installation kit in the majority of its wireline service areas.

Customers that reside in areas where the telco has equipped its copper plant with next-generation DSLAMs and associated remote terminal equipment will be able to get higher speeds.

Business customers can purchase a similar voice/data package beginning at $69.99 a month. The business plan includes free installation when a two- or three-year plan is selected. Similar to the residential service, businesses have the option to buy higher-speed DSL packages where available.

While Frontier said that eligible customers can get 6 Mbps downstream, it did not reveal the upstream speed. According to the company's website, users can upgrade to 12 Mbps for $10 more a month.

Despite seeing expected losses in FiOS video and traditional voice lines, Frontier did make some progress with broadband services throughout Q4 2012.

During the quarter, the telco increased the coverage of its 20 Mbps service, increasing coverage by 18 percent to reach 40 percent of its footprint. Wilderotter said the ILEC plans to "increase 20-meg service to 50 percent of the homes in its serving territory by the end of 2013." Likewise, it increased the coverage of its 12 Mbps service by 6 percent to reach 51 percent of its footprint, while expanding its 6 Mbps service by 10 percent to reach 74 percent of its footprint. 

The telco has set a high bar for its ongoing DSL service expansion. Maggie Wilderotter, CEO and Chairman of Frontier, said during the company's Q4 2012 earnings call that it plans to "increase 20-meg service to 50 percent of the homes in its serving territory by the end of 2013."

For more:
- see the release

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