BAM Completes Frontier Acquisition

Bedminster, NJ-based Bell Atlantic Mobile (BAM) has completed its acquisition of the former Frontier Cellular properties, further expanding the company's contiguous East Coast footprint.

Frontier Cellular will become BAM's Upstate New York region, covering Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, and Utica/Rome metropolitan areas; four rural service areas in New York State; and two rural service areas in Pennsylvania. Following a transition period, the Upstate region will begin doing business as Bell Atlantic Mobile.

Tracy Nolan, current president of Frontier Cellular, will continue to lead the Upstate New York operations after the transition is complete. In addition, the headquarters for the Upstate New York service territory will remain in Rochester.

According to Nolan, customers will see very few changes in their current relationship. The name will change, but the same team of will continue to service Upstate New York. The acquisition represents an addition of more than 450,000 customers, approximately 36,000 square miles of service territory, and 5.1 million POPs.

Prior to the acquisition, Frontier Cellular was a joint venture between BAM and Frontier Corp., which recently completed its merger with Global Crossing.