Frontier bumps top speed tier to 7-Gig, bundles in bells and whistles

Frontier Communications has bulked up its residential fiber broadband portfolio with a new 7Gbit/s tier that bundles in several premium add-ons, including whole-home Wi-Fi and a Wi-Fi 7 gateway.

The new offering starts at $299.99 per month (with the autopay option).

The new tier complements Frontier's 1-Gig plan and two additional multi-gigabit plans – 2 Gbit/s ($99.99 per month) and 5 Gbit/s ($129.99 per month) – that ride the operator's XGS-PON platform. Frontier is also testing 100G broadband network speeds with Nokia. On the lower end, Frontier offers a 200 Mbit/s plan to help weather the recent end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Update: Frontier confirmed that no new customer premises equipment (CPE) is required for 7-Gig speeds if the subscriber is already on the XGS-PON network and has a 7G-compatible router.

Frontier has not broken out how many of its fiber subs take specific speed tiers, but it disclosed earlier this month that more than 60% of its new fiber customers took speeds of 1 Gbit/s or faster in the second quarter of 2024.

Though speed is the key to Frontier's new, uncapped offering, the operator hopes to entice customers to consider the 7-Gig offering by bundling in a handful of premium-level services, including a Wi-Fi 7-powered eero Max 7 router, whole-home Wi-Fi enabled by a second eero Max 7 device, Wi-Fi security (also called eero Secure or Wi-Fi Secure), free pro installs, and a three-year new tech upgrade. Update: On the latter benefit, customers, for example, will be upgraded to a faster router if Frontier released one within a three year period.

Related:Frontier sizing up fiber JV with Stonepeak – report

Frontier estimates that the premium add-ons represent a 12-month value of $899, suggesting a monthly value of nearly $75. Frontier customers will receive that bundles benefit for as long as they are a 7-Gig customer.

The new high-end offering emerges as Frontier moves forward with its fiber-focused strategy.

Frontier has deployed fiber to more than 7 million locations passed, inching the company closer to a goal to pass 10 million locations with fiber. Frontier added a record 388,000 fiber passings in Q2, putting it on track to build fiber to 1.3 million locations for 2024.

In Q2, Frontier added a record 92,000 fiber subs, extending that total to 2.18 million. The company's average revenue per user (ARPU) for fiber hit $65.32 per month in Q2, up 3.5% versus the year-ago quarter.

Frontier, which is in the midst of a strategic review of its business, is also looking to reduce deployment cost with a self-install option that launched in July.

Related:A Frontier-Stonepeak JV could be worth $7.5B – analyst

Frontier's cost-to-connect is in the range of $600 to $800 per connection. It's currently at the high end of the range today, but it will drop lower over time as the new self-install option proliferates, Frontier CFO Scott Beasley noted on the company's Q2 2024 earnings call earlier this month.

Frontier reportedly is exploring a joint venture with Stonepeak that could supply a capital injection of $500 million to $1 billion and be used toward fiber investments.

Frontier has another 5 million "Wave 3" locations that are candidates for fiber upgrades but are deemed less financially attractive to build to than its current 10 million-location target. Frontier might tap into partnerships or joint ventures for possible buildouts in the Wave 3 footprint.