Frontier California, Inc. is a
Frontier Communications-owned operating company providing telephone service in former
Verizon regions. This included
Southern California cities such as
Long Beach,
Seal Beach,
Lakewood Lakewood may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lakewood, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Western Australia
Canada
* Lakewood, Edmonton, Alberta
* Lakewood Suburban Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Philippines
* Lakewood, Zamboanga del S ...
,
Norwalk and
Santa Monica.
History
GTE was originally the largest non-
Bell System
The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundr ...
telephone company, and the number-two telephone service provider in the
United States. It entered California by acquiring the Associated Telephone Company in 1926. It would later merge with Western Utilities Corporation and its affiliates in 1964; the number-three (non-Bell System) provider,
Continental Telephone (ConTel), in 1991; and former Bell System member
Bell Atlantic in 2000.
GTE was made up of many small "
mom and pop" telephone companies that had been purchased to form the General Telephone System, this led the
California Public Utilities Commission, in the mid-1960s to proclaim GTE "the worst telephone company in California, bar none." However, in the years following the report, GTE replaced most of its switching equipment, and much of its plant in Southern California. This led to a higher level of service compared to
Pacific Bell.
When the
213 area code was being split into 213 and
310,
Pacific Bell, then the manager of the 213 area code, chose to split the 213 area code in such a fashion that every single prefix that served a GTE customer was moved into the new 310 area code, while many of Pacific Bell's customers remained in the 213 area code.
GTE California completed the transition from mechanical to electronic switching by 1992.
In the 1990s, GTE California underwent several changes. In 1993, GTE purchased ConTel. Its subsidiary ConTel of California, Inc., which also served parts of
Nevada and
Arizona, was absorbed into GTE California.
In 2000, GTE was purchased by Bell Atlantic, becoming
Verizon. GTE California was then renamed "Verizon California, Inc."
In 2010, operations in Arizona, Nevada, and some of California (mostly in areas near state borders), including some former Contel of California regions, were sold to
Frontier Communications, becoming
Frontier Communications of the Southwest
Frontier Communications of the Southwest Inc. is a Frontier Communications operating company providing local telephone services to former Verizon California territory in Arizona, California, and Nevada. The company was created as a subsidiary of ...
.
In April 2020, Frontier Communications filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors. Frontier lists a total debt of $21.9 billion.
Sale to Frontier
On February 5, 2015, Verizon Communications announced a sale of its remaining wired telecom operations in
California,
Florida, and
Texas to
Frontier Communications. Verizon California is included in the sale. The transaction closed in the first half of 2016.
Verizon California transitioned to Frontier Communications on April 1, 2016.
Sources
FCC History: Verizon California, Inc.
References
External links
Official Frontier Communications website
{{Frontier
Frontier Communications
Communications in California
Telecommunications companies of the United States
Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles
Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
Mass media in Los Angeles
Telecommunications companies established in 1929
1929 establishments in California