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Commitments And Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2024
Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract] |
Commitments And Contingencies | (20) Commitments and Contingencies: We are party to various legal proceedings (including individual actions, class and putative class actions, and governmental investigations) arising in the normal course of our business covering a wide range of matters and types of claims including, but not limited to, general contract disputes, billing disputes, rights of access, taxes and surcharges, consumer protection, advertising, sales and the provision of services, intellectual property, including, trademark, copyright, and patent infringement, employment, regulatory, environmental, tort, claims of competitors and disputes with other carriers. Litigation is subject to uncertainty and the outcome of individual matters is not predictable. However, we believe that the ultimate resolution of all such matters, after considering insurance coverage or other indemnities to which we are entitled, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Frontier has been named as a defendant in various intellectual property disputes. In each case, we have denied the allegations and are mounting a vigorous defense. We have accrued an amount for potential damages that we deem probable and reasonably estimable. We do not expect that any potential damages, if ultimately incurred, will be material. On October 22 and October 23, 2024, two complaints were filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York by purported Company stockholders against the Company, the Board, Verizon and Merger Sub in connection with the Merger. The complaints assert claims of negligent misrepresentation and concealment and negligence under New York common law. Among other remedies, the complaints seek an order enjoining the defendants from proceeding with the Merger unless and until the defendants disclose certain allegedly material information that was allegedly omitted from the proxy statements, rescinding the Merger to the extent already consummated or granting rescissory damages, awarding the plaintiffs costs and disbursements of the action, including reasonable attorneys’ and expert fees and expenses, and granting such other and further relief as the court may deem just and proper. Additional lawsuits arising out of the proposed Merger may also be filed in the future. Furthermore, the Company has received demand letters from purported Company stockholders alleging disclosure deficiencies in the preliminary proxy statement and/or definitive proxy statement and demanding that the Company and the Board of Directors promptly issue corrective disclosures to cure the proxy statement prior to the anticipated stockholder vote on the proposed Merger. The Company believes that the allegations contained in the complaints and demands have no merit. We do not at this time consider there to be any reasonably possible material loss arising from the demands. There can be no assurance regarding the likelihood that the Company’s defense of any actions will be successful. During the second quarter of 2024, Frontier reached a settlement with a net financial impact of $25 million resolving a dispute with the Chief Executive Officer of Frontier’s predecessor company, who left his position with the company in 2004, concerning split-dollar life insurance benefits granted during his employment. In November 2021, Congress passed the IIJA which provides $65 billion to fund broadband connectivity programs, including broadband deployment to unserved and underserved locations. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is administering the principal last mile infrastructure funding program in the amount of $42.5 billion, the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment Program (BEAD), and will distribute funding through direct grants to states, who will then award the funds based on competitive grant programs. The NTIA has allocated approximately $25.5 billion to states in Frontier’s footprint. We are closely tracking implementation of the BEAD program, including participating in state address challenge and pre-application processes. The requirements and funding under these programs is subject to change. We are actively pursuing awards of these stimulus funds; however, we continue to evaluate our opportunities as the process is complex and any awards that we ultimately receive under the IIJA may require significant up-front capital expenditures or other costs. On January 27, 2025, the federal Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued a memorandum to the heads of all executive departments and agencies directing them to pause the disbursement of certain federal financial assistance. On January 28, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary stay of the OMB directive, which the OMB subsequently rescinded. It is uncertain if the OMB will seek to further pause or otherwise limit future federal disbursements, or if any such changes will impact the funding Frontier receives under federal programs, including USF, RDOF and other federal broadband grants including BEAD. We are closely tracking developments in this area. Significant decreases in available funding, or the imposition of significant requirements on the receipt of such funding, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. On April 14, 2024, we detected that a third party had gained unauthorized access to portions of our information technology environment. Upon detection, the Company immediately activated its incident response plan, took action to contain the incident, launched an investigation with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts, and notified law enforcement and applicable regulatory authorities. We worked with a leading e-discovery firm to undertake a thorough review of the impacted data to identify and provide notice to individuals whose information was impacted. Since the incident, the Company has also taken steps to further strengthen its information technology security. While the incident did not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations, the containment measures, which included shutting down certain of the Company’s systems, resulted in an operational disruption. In October 2013, the California Attorney General’s Office notified certain Verizon companies, including one of the subsidiaries that we acquired in the CTF transaction, of potential violations of California state hazardous waste statutes primarily arising from the disposal of electronic components, batteries, and aerosol cans at certain California facilities. We have reached a settlement with the California Attorney General’s Office, pending court approval, and have accrued an amount for the settlement penalty. We accrue an expense for pending litigation when we determine that an unfavorable outcome is probable, and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Legal defense costs are expensed as incurred. None of our existing accruals for pending matters, after considering insurance coverage, is material. We monitor our pending litigation for the purpose of adjusting our accruals and revising our disclosures accordingly, when required. Litigation is, however, subject to uncertainty, and the outcome of any particular matter is not predictable. We will vigorously defend our interests in pending litigation, and as of this date, we believe that the ultimate resolution of all such matters, after considering insurance coverage or other indemnities to which we are entitled, will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or our cash flows. In 2015, Frontier accepted the FCC’s CAF Phase II offer, which provided $313 million in annual support through 2021 in our current 25 states in return for the Company’s commitment to make broadband available to households within the CAF II eligible areas. The Company was required to complete the CAF II deployment by December 31, 2021. Thereafter, the FCC has been reviewing carriers’ CAF II program completion data, and if the FCC determines that the Company did not satisfy applicable FCC CAF Phase II requirements, Frontier could be required to return a portion of the funds previously received and may be subject to certain fines, requirements and obligations. On January 30, 2020, the FCC adopted an order establishing the RDOF competitive reverse auction to provide support to serve high-cost areas. Under the FCCs RDOF Phase I auction, we were awarded approximately $371 million over ten years to build gigabit-capable broadband over a fiber-to-the-premises network to approximately 127,000 locations in eight states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia). We began receiving RDOF funding in the second quarter of 2022 and we will be required to complete the buildout to the awarded locations by December 31, 2028, with interim target milestones over this period. To the extent Frontier is unable to fulfill the RDOF requirements, meet the milestones or construct to all locations by the required deadlines, funding to us could be discontinued and Frontier could be required to return a portion of funds previously received and may be subject to certain fines, requirements and obligations. On July 24, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that certain delegations of authority in the USF contribution system are unconstitutional. The court remanded the case to the FCC. The Fifth Circuit subsequently stayed the decision to allow the FCC to file a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review. The stay allows the continued collection of USF contributions while the Supreme Court considers the case. The precise impact of the case is unclear at this time, including the extent to which the decision applies to parties other than the petitioner. We cannot predict how this or future court decisions will impact the company’s ability to receive federal universal service funds in the future. We conduct certain of our operations in leased premises and lease certain equipment and other assets pursuant to operating leases. The lease arrangements have terms ranging from 1 to 99 years and several contain rent escalation clauses providing for increases in monthly rent at specific intervals. When rent escalation clauses exist, we record annual rental expense based on the total expected rent payments on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Certain leases also have renewal options. Renewal options that are reasonably assured are included in determining the lease term. As of December 31, 2024, we had total “Accounts payable and accrued liabilities” of $1.0 billion, of which $758 million was related to accounts payable. As of December 31, 2023, we had total “Accounts payable and accrued liabilities” of $1.1 billion, of which $857 million was related to accounts payable. Although from time to time we make short-term purchasing commitments to vendors with respect to capital expenditures, we generally do not enter into firm, written contracts for such activities. In connection with the fiber expansion build, we have prioritized diversifying our vendor base and solidifying partnership agreements with vendors for relevant labor and materials, to enable our build growth and customer expansion. Some of these key supplier agreements have multi-year terms and purchase commitments as we deem advisable in order to strengthen future supply. In addition, we have negotiated favorable payment terms with some of our vendors that allow for a longer payment period than our normal customary terms (referred to as vendor financing), which are excluded from capital expenditures and reported as financing activities on the statement of cash flows. As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had $16 million and $263 million, respectively, of contractual vendor financing liabilities included in “Other current liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets. For the year ended December 31, 2024 we made $331 million in contractual vendor financing payments related to capital expenditures. The following table summarizes the roll forward of the vendor financing liabilities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024:
| ($ in millions) |  | 2024 |  | 2023 |
| Confirmed obligations outstanding at January 1 |  | $ | 263 |  | $ | - |
| Invoices confirmed during the year |  |  | 84 |  |  | 268 |
| Confirmed invoices paid during the year |  |  | (331) |  |  | (5) |
| Confirmed obligations outstanding at December 31 |  | $ | 16 |  | $ | 263 |
In addition, we have certain arrangements that are non-contractual but have extended payment terms. We made payments of $132 million related to these arrangements, bringing total capital vendor financing payments to $463 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. We are party to contracts with several unrelated long-distance carriers. The contracts provide fees based on traffic they carry for us subject to minimum monthly fees. At December 31, 2024, the estimated future payments for obligations under our noncancelable long-distance contracts and joint pole and communications service agreements are as follows:
| ($ in millions) |  | Amount |
| Year ending December 31: |  |  |  |
| 2025 |  | $ | 95 |
| 2026 |  |  | 16 |
| 2027 |  |  | 5 |
| 2028 |  |  | - |
| 2029 |  |  | - |
| Thereafter |  |  | - |
| Total |  | $ | 116 |
At December 31, 2024, we have outstanding performance letters of credit as follows:
| ($ in millions) |  | Amount |
| CNA Financial Corporation (CNA) |  | $ | 24 |
| AIG Insurance |  |  | 28 |
| Zurich |  |  | 133 |
| Total (1) |  | $ | 185 |
(1)At December 31, 2024, we had total letters of credit outstanding of $265 million, of which, $74 million was used for various Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rural deployment programs in which the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) provides funds to Frontier to support the construction of rural broadband connectivity, and $6 million was used for rent obligations under our administrative office lease terms. CNA serves as our insurance carrier with respect to casualty claims (auto liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation) with dates of loss prior to June 1, 2017 (except for those claims which arise out of the operations acquired from CTF that have dates of loss prior to April 1, 2016). As our insurance carrier, they administer the casualty claims and make claim payments on our behalf. We reimburse CNA for such services upon presentation of their invoice. To serve as our carrier and make payments on our behalf, CNA requires that we establish a letter of credit in their favor. CNA could potentially draw against this if we failed to reimburse CNA in accordance with the terms of our agreement. The amount of the letter of credit is reviewed annually and adjusted based on claims history. Zurich serves as our insurance carrier with respect to casualty claims (auto liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation) with dates of loss from June 1, 2017 and going forward. As our insurance carrier, they administer the casualty claims and make claim payments on our behalf. We reimburse Zurich for such services upon presentation of their invoice. To serve as our carrier and make payments on our behalf, Zurich requires that we establish letters of credit in their favor. Zurich could potentially draw against these letters of credit if we failed to reimburse Zurich in accordance with the terms of our agreement. The amount of the letters of credit is reviewed annually and adjusted based on claims history. AIG Insurance serves as our insurance carrier with respect to casualty claims (auto liability, general liability, and workers’ compensation) that were acquired from CTF, as well as new claims which arise out of the operations acquired from CTF that have dates of loss prior to April 1, 2016. Sedgwick, a third-party claims administrator, administers the casualty claims and makes claim payments on our behalf. We reimburse Sedgwick for such services upon presentation of their invoice. However, to serve as our insurance carrier, AIG Insurance requires that we establish a letter of credit in their favor. AIG Insurance could potentially draw against this letter of credit if we failed to meet the insurance-related and claims-related obligations we assumed in accordance with the terms of our agreement. The amount of the letter of credit is reviewed annually and adjusted based on claims history.

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