Frontier Corp., one of the parents of Frontier Cellular, announced plans to merge with Global
Crossing Ltd., an independent global fiber-optic network operator.
The transaction is valued at about $11.2
billion.
Frontier Cellular is a equally owned joint venture between Frontier Corp. and Bell Atlantic Mobile. The
company, which ranks 14th on RCR’s Top 20 cellular carriers list, has nearly 400,000 subscribers in Binghamton,
Buffalo, Elmira, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica-Rome, N.Y., as well as six rural service areas in New York and
Pennsylvania.
Some analysts speculate Frontier Cellular eventually will be sold by the combined Global
Crossing/Frontier. A spokesman for Frontier said the merger agreement has no effect on Frontier Cellular, and the
company has no immediate plans to sell the cellular carrier.
Although Bell Atlantic would not comment on the
structure of its joint venture with Frontier, including whether it has any rights of first refusal, the company does not
overlap Frontier Cellular in any of its markets and could emerge as a potential acquirer.
Frontier’s cellular
competitors in its metropolitan statistical areas are SBC Wireless Inc. and Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc., which
shortly will be acquired by AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
Global Crossing is building a global fiber-optic platform
for data, voice, video and Internet transmissions that is expected to cover four continents. The Frontier transaction will
give Global Crossing a foothold in the United States.
