Frontier Communications Corp. named John Stratton as its executive chairman, tapping a longtime telecom operator to lead the internet provider out of bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Norwalk, Conn., company’s appointment of the former Verizon Communications Inc. executive signals its ambitions to keep growing if federal and state regulators approve its reorganization plan. A federal judge last month approved a plan that could move the business out of bankruptcy by early 2021. Frontier filed for bankruptcy protection in April to implement a prearranged $10 billion debt-cutting proposal backed by bondholders. Frontier’s reputation among customers has suffered in recent years as its network of digital subscriber lines failed to deliver the data rates broadband customers have come to expect. The company serves about 3 million internet customers in 25 states, a legacy of its creation from the remnants of several smaller local phone companies. Frontier spent the past decade buying and building new fiber-optic cables in areas not served by rivals like AT&T Inc., CenturyLink Inc. and Verizon. Those high-speed lines attracted some new business, but high fees and poor customer service drove many potential customers toward its cable-TV competitors.
