Telecompetitor shares good news for some and bad news for others with a recent update on Frontier. The good news, they are upgrading some areas…

Frontier built to 1.2 million locations in 2022 and was originally targeting 1.6 million locations in 2023. But it is now aiming to reach 1.3 million locations this year – an acceleration in absolute terms from 2022 but far below the originally forecast number.

The bad news, it’s not planning to upgrade other areas…

Dixit noted Frontier’s copper customers continue to generation a “decent” amount of cash for the business. He added the operator will see how many of those locations might be supported by BEAD funding. For those that aren’t, it will then be left with a decision to either keep them or divest them in “some sort of asset swap,” he said.

The article makes it clear that Frontier is grooming itself to acquire or be acquired; so keeping copper customers for the cash must plan into that plan…

“We’re large enough to potentially be a consolidator of smaller fiber players,” he stated during a New Street Research investor conference on Tuesday. “We’re also small enough to be consolidated or be acquired by another larger carrier. So, we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”