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Frontier FiberOptic has some of the fastest and most competitively priced telecommunications services including their acclaimed Frontier internet and TV access. If you’re like most people, however, you probably haven’t heard of Frontier FiberOptic / FiOS, so you may be hesitant to sign a contract with them.
The good news is that if you pick your plan carefully, Frontier is an excellent provider for your family. If you browse around Frontier’s selections for a while, you might even find that some of the packages have juicy signup bonuses that are hard to resist.
In this article, we’ll discuss the services, explain which packages give you what functions, and help you to pick the right bundle at the price point that works for you.
Welcome to Fiber Optic Technology
You have probably heard that Fiber Optic services use fiber optics rather than traditional copper cables. Fiber-optic lines have a much higher data throughput capacity than conventional copper cables. Unlike copper cables, fiber optic lines are also much more expensive to produce.
This fact means that fiber internet service tends to be very expensive when they first come to select areas. Then, in the years afterward, the providers do not have to charge as much to offset the costs of servicing and laying the fiber line, so prices drop.
In other words, if Frontier has recently laid fiber-optic lines in your neighborhood, it might be a bit more expensive than the alternative services on the market, but it will also most likely have much higher speeds than anything else. Speeds may vary.
On the other hand, if Frontier has been in your neighborhood for a long time, prices are probably meager.
Frontier FiberOptic In My Area?
Frontier Internet isn’t necessarily available in every state, nor is it available in every part of the states where it does have a presence. Frontier FiberOptic is hard to come by if you live in New England or most of the Sun Belt states. In other words they are only only located in select areas.
If you live on the West Coast, however, you won’t have any issue finding fiber optic service in your select areas.
Frontier Communications FiberOptic service is the most wide-reaching in the following states:
- California
- Texas
- Oregon
- Washington
- Indiana
- South Carolina
- Florida
The more rural an area that you are in, the less likely internet from Frontier FiberOptic will be available. Conversely, if you live in a major city in the states where Frontier Communications has the most presence, there’s a very good chance that you will have access to the service.
How Is Frontier FiberOptic Different From Verizon Fios?
Many people are familiar with Verizon Fios, which is a fiber optic internet and FiOS TV service package provided by Verizon, not to be confused with a satellite TV connection offered by DIRECTV. Frontier FiberOptic may be especially confusing for consumers to learn about because it shares the same FiOS brand name.
Frontier is a different company than Verizon, however. To make matters more confusing, many select areas serviced by Frontier Communications were at one time maintained by Verizon. What is the difference between these two companies and the FiOS services that they offer?
In short, Frontier FiberOptic exists because Frontier Communications purchased Verizon’s Fios network of fiber cables in some regions.
Because Frontier Communications is a different company, the packages including high-speed internet access as part of the FiberOptic brand may be significantly different from Verizon’s.
If you investigate Frontier FiberOptic’ packages, however, you may find that the Frontier packages are named similarly to the Verizon Fios packages despite having different contents.
Frontier FiberOptic Packages and Bundles
It is unclear why Frontier chose to name their internet service packages to be indistinguishable from Verizon’s. Nevertheless, we’ll run through each of their major packages in detail so that you won’t get them confused.
Internet Service Only
With Frontier’s FiberOptic basic Internet Service package, you’ll pay $30 per month to get FiberOptic internet speeds as fast as 50 Mbps download. Actual speeds may vary. While these speeds are mediocre in absolute terms, they are a bargain for the price when you take the signup bonuses into account.
Because the FiberOptic internet only package does not include any FiberOptic TV or digital voice services, it also incurs far fewer additional fees than any of the other packages.
If you are a stickler for bargains, the internet-only source will give you the no-frills service you crave at a price point you will love.
As a signup bonus with the basic internet package, you’ll also get a $100 Visa reward card and a one-year Amazon Prime subscription voucher. These bonuses are only for people who sign up for a two-year contract or longer, however.
At this price and with these signup bonuses, sticking with the basic Frontier FiberOptic internet plans for two years won’t be difficult unless you have a large family full of heavy internet users.
For small families or for individuals who only need FiberOptic internet access, however, the internet-only packages still might be a good choice.
The main advantage of the internet-only package is that you can add additional services when you realize that you need them. Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for internet-only service other than the basic package.
The other primary advantage of the Internet-Only services provided by Frontier FiberOptic is that there are no-contract high speed internet plans. These no-contract internet plans are only billed month to month, and you are not obligated to purchase any number of months worth of service.
On the flip side, the no-contract plans are typically very weak in terms of the signup bonuses and additional perks. If you plan on moving around a lot, the no-contract plans are a great choice because they’re easy to start and inexpensive to maintain or terminate.
Internet, Voice, and TV Packages
The FiberOptic Internet, Voice, and FiberOptic TV packages are where the service shines.
There are a few different bundles which vary substantially in their content. Speeds may vary as well. The Double Play Bundle includes Frontier internet access and digital voice service for $40 per month.
With the Double Play, you’ll get max speeds as fast as 50 Mbps download, free nationwide calling, a $100 gift card, and a one-year Amazon Prime subscription. You will also be locked into a two-year contract with Frontier Communications.
Luckily, the Double Play plan also stipulates that your price is guaranteed for the duration of your contract’s lock-in time, so you don’t need to worry about price increases when you’re still on the hook for the subscription cost according to the contract.
The Triple Play Bundle includes everything that the Double Play Bundle has but adds FiberOptic TV with access to over 130 channels. This service is provided through Frontier FiberOptic’ TV distribution network, Quantum TV.
The Triple Play costs $75 per month, which isn’t too shabby for the breadth of its features. For small families who need phone service, Frontier internet access, and basic internet & TV service, this is a great option which covers everything.
High-Speed Internet and Frontier’s TV Bundles
Confusingly, Frontier internet bundles are named the same as their slower-speed bundles. The Double Play Bundle with Frontier internet access includes speeds as fast as 500 Mbps download / 500 Mbps upload, a 10X increase over the normal bundle. Actual speeds may vary and all pricing and plan details are subject to change.
You will also pay $85 per month for the high-speed internet Double Play — but you won’t get any digital voice service or any of the signup bonuses.
Furthermore, the pricing guarantee of the high-speed internet option is only for one year, but the contract requires a two-year commitment. You can already see where this is going: Frontier FiberOptic will almost certainly raise your monthly rate after the first year with this plan.
The high-speed internet Triple Play Bundle has the same FiberOptic 500 Mbps download speeds, but it also includes access to 125 TV channels. If you want to purchase premium channels like HBO, Staz, Cinemax, and ESPN, you will need to purchase additional tiers of service, however.
Importantly, the TV channel selection is the same in both of the plans.
In other words, if using the internet in the faster plan lets you access additional TV content more cheaply than purchasing the content through FiberOptic TV directly, you should opt for the faster plan.
Conversely, if you would rather only pay for what you need, purchasing the channels individually under the purview of the slower-speed Triple Play plan will help you to save a few dollars each month.
If the hassle of slow internet speed will cause a problem, however, it may not be worth the small cost savings.
Interestingly, the high-speed Triple Play plan also includes unlimited nationwide calling via digital voice, as well as a $100 gift card and a one-year subscription to Amazon Prime.
This particular bundle is priced at $95 per month for the first year and has a pricing guarantee which lasts one year. To get the signup bonuses, you’ll need to sign a two-year contract, however.
Be Wary of Extra Fees
The packages are all priced competitively for the telecommunications market. If you are not familiar with the billing for these services, however, it is easy to get stuck with additional fees which you may not have anticipated.
These fees include:
- Installation fees
- Equipment rental fees
- Internet infrastructure surcharges
- TV service fees
- Voice over IP (VOIP) administration fee
- TV broadcast access fee
- RSN fees
- Tax-service fees
- Early contract termination fees
- Other administrative fees
Installation fees and installation equipment rental fees are both avoidable if you use your routers and modems rather than renting them from Frontier Communications. While you may be able to get your installation fees waived if you sign for a longer contract, it is usually not cost-efficient to do so.
On the other hand, Frontier FiberOptic can often provide you with favorable renting rates, so if you don’t want to shop around for a router, it might be a good choice to rent.
The fees which you incur will depend on the service which you purchase, but you will need to double-check your monthly bill to be safe. For example, if you purchase a plan which doesn’t include digital voice services, you shouldn’t need to pay the VOIP administration fee.
If you purchase a plan with both Frontier internet access and TV access, you should expect to pay the broadcast access fee, the TV service fee, and also the internet infrastructure fee. These fees charge to your invoice whether or not you use the specific service that month.
In other words, you should be careful to pick your plan so that you minimize the additional fees which you will need to pay.
As with many subscription-based services, the prices mentioned on the Frontier Communications websites should be considered as the starting point for the service’s cost rather than the total cost when taking all of the additional fees into account.
If you terminate your contract early, you will probably need to pay the termination fee unless you can get it waived. To get the termination fee waived, you will need to produce evidence that shows you have a valid reason for breaking the contract.
Which Frontier FiberOptic Plan Is Right For Me?
The right Frontier FiberOptic plan for you and your family depends heavily on what your needs are. To identify your needs, you should ask yourself a few questions.
Do you need a digital voice service? If so, you’ll need to pick between the Double Play or Triple Play bundles, as no other bundles offer digital voice access.
Next, what are your internet speed needs? If you are an individual, your needs for internet speed will be lower than if you were purchasing a subscription for your entire family. This implies that you probably will not need the high-speed Double Play or Triple Play bundles.
If you are an individual but you are a heavy internet user, you will probably need something more robust than the basic Frontier internet service plan, however.
Furthermore, if you are a heavy internet user or have heavy internet users in your family, you’ll probably want to stick with high-speed Frontier FiberOptic internet plans. The bandwidth provided by the lower speed plans will not be enough to sustain more than a couple of people.
Next, do you want to have access to broadcast TV, or is streaming video via the internet sufficient for your needs? If you want access to the broadcast TV via FiberOptic TV, you’ll need to pick one of the TV + Internet + Phone bundles.
For a small family with light internet use, the lower-speed Triple play plan is probably a better choice than the faster one. For families with people who will want to make the most out of the Triple Play’s year of Amazon Prime, however, the faster plan might be a better choice.
Finally, do you plan on moving anytime soon? If you plan on moving in a year or less, you’ll need to pick the plan with the shortest contract.
Picking the plan with the shortest contract will probably mean that you miss out on some of the speed features you want, but it will also protect you from paying expensive early termination fees.
Overall, the Double Play plans are not very price competitive in comparison to the other plans. The cost of a Triple Play plan is not significantly higher than the Double Play plans, but they provide entirely new sets of services and also have more favorable signup bonuses.
The catch is that the internet plans incur significantly more additional fees than the Double Play plans by virtue of including TV and digital voice services.
Because the price of these fees varies depending on where you’re purchasing the service, it’s difficult to discern how big of a difference a few extra fees per month will make on your bill. Either way, the longer you keep your plan, the more the cost of the additional fees will add up.
In summary, the Triple Play bundles are the most cost-efficient at first glance, but they may be less favorable once you take all the fees into account, especially if you do not want the digital voice or TV services that it includes.
Wrapping Up
Now that you’re familiar with all of the Frontier FiberOptic offerings, it’s time to dive into the market and make a smart purchasing decision. Remember to avoid contracts that are longer than you plan on staying in the area, and try to get a good feeling for how much internet speed you need.
Overall, it’s important to remember that Frontier Communications offers the strongest in the Triple Play bundles because you get the most service for your dollar. Sometimes, this may include service that you do not need, such as with digital voice.
If you don’t need these additional services, don’t fret — the price isn’t significantly different if you pick a more spartan plan without the extras. Do your best, and pick the plan that lets you do the things you love to do without breaking the bank.
