Frontier, a major fixed internet provider that is competing directly against Verizon’s new 5G Home service in Los Angeles, said that so far it has not lost any customers to the new service.
“We have not seen any impact from Verizon's trials in the LA market, so no impact,” said Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy this week on the company’s earnings conference call, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the event. “We're not seeing that, not hearing it, and we're not seeing any loss of customers to that at this point.”
Last month Verizon turned on its 5G Home service in parts of four cities, including in Los Angeles where Frontier offers wired internet services to consumers and businesses. Verizon’s fixed wireless service uses 28 GHz spectrum to beam internet services into homes, offices and other stationary locations with a suitable receiver, and Verizon charges $50 per month for the 300 Mbps service for customers who already subscribe to Verizon’s mobile services, or $70 per month for those who don’t.
Frontier, on the other hand, offers speeds up to around 100 Mbps across a range of pricing plans.
The launch is Verizon’s attempt to use high-speed 5G technology to go after existing wired internet service providers like Comcast, Charter and Frontier in markets where it does not offer wired internet services.
However, Verizon has made clear that its 5G Home service is just one of several offerings it will launch in the coming months and years based on 5G technology.
As for Frontier, running up against Verizon as an internet competitor in Los Angeles is particularly noteworthy considering Frontier purchased Verizon’s Fios operations across Texas, Florida and California for $1.8 billion in 2016 in order to get into the internet business there, and continues to offer internet services in those locations under Verizon’s Fios brand.