AT&T unloading CT wireline assets for $2B

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Stamford’s Frontier Communications Corp. has reached an agreement to purchase AT&T’s Connecticut wireline business and fiber network for $2 billion in cash, the two companies announced.

Frontier will get nearly 1.5 million data, voice and video connections in the state, including U-verse and satellite television. The company said it won’t be discontinuing those products.

If the deal is approved by federal and state authorities, Frontier will also add approximately 2,700 former AT&T employees, most of them union, to its payroll. It has 200 in Stamford.

The assets cover most of Connecticut, including urban and rural areas, the companies said.

Frontier, which trades on the Nasdaq, sees the deal as an opportunity to introduce its own products and services to the state, such as its digital security offering Frontier Secure.

It promises to squeeze $200 million in synergies and savings once the integration is complete.

The companies expect the deal to close in the second half of 2014. If it does, Frontier will have operations in 28 states and more than 16,000 employees.

Attorney General George Jepsen released a statement today saying his office would closely scrutinize the deal's impacts.

“The proposed transaction could have substantial impact on the quality and affordability of wireline telephone, internet broadband and video services for residential and business customers throughout Connecticut," Jepsen said. "I will closely examine this deal and fight to ensure that the interests of the state of Connecticut and its residents are fully protected."