Frontier taking over local Verizon services

SANDPOINT — Better service, hometown participation, no overseas operators and users can pay their bills in town.

When Frontier Communications takes over Verizon’s rural services in North Idaho today, customers can expect to put a face on the name, something that was lacking in the decade that Verizon provided telephone and Internet service to North Idaho residents, an official said.

“I think we’ll have better service for customers,” David Haggerty, Verizon’s Sandpoint manager, said.

Starting today, the logo on Haggerty’s shirt will change to a Frontier Communications logo.

Verizon, which took over local services from GTE a decade ago, was a mega-company that farmed out services to overseas companies, closed local offices, and required bills to be mailed-in or paid online.

Frontier brings with it a small-town mentality, Haggerty said.

“It used to be you were able to pay bills in town and make human contact,” he said. “That was taken away by Verizon.”

The new company plans to eventually open a local office where customers can speak with company representatives and pay their bills.

Vickie Bullard, the general manager for an area that includes rural North Idaho, said the company’s motto includes reaching out to customers and the community.

“We focus on putting the customer first,” Bullard said. “That’s one of the 11 value statements we have at Frontier.”

The model allows Frontier, which also operates in Northwest Montana from its office in Libby, a quicker response to customer issues and proactive service, she said.

With the acquisition of the Idaho market, Frontier will serve 27 states, according to the company. That makes Frontier Communications the largest provider of communication services to rural communities in the U.S.

Company services include local and long-distance telephone services, Internet access, digital phone and DISH satellite television for approximately 4 million customers nationwide.

The acquisition and change-over will not impact local Verizon employees.

“We will stay the same head count as now, with 23-24 employees,” in the Sandpoint area, she said.

A recent glitch in Verizon DSL services rumored to be part of the Frontier take-over was not associated with the recent acquisition, Haggerty said.

The problem came from a bottleneck with ATM services that required installation of new equipment, he said. It was supposed to be resolved by August, but repairs were completed this week.

“We’re two month’s early on that,” he said. “I’m seeing DSL install orders, which is not something we’ve seen in a while.”