Frontier briefed Indio council on fiber build, troubleshooting and local rollout plans

Doug McAllister, vice president of external affairs for Frontier Communications, updated the City of Indio Council on the company’s ongoing build of fiber-to-the-home service in Indio and the region.

McAllister said Frontier is pursuing a multi‑phase expansion and that the company plans to bring service to roughly 400 additional residential addresses in Indio this year, while ongoing work will continue in future years depending on corporate plans. He described a 100% fiber connection as ‘‘no copper involved’’ from the wire center to the home, offering higher capacities and lower congestion than DSL or hybrid systems.

The presentation emphasized construction quality and post-construction cleanup. McAllister said he expects contractors to finish restoration work after construction and asked council members and residents to flag unfinished patches or other defects. "If it comes to your attention, it matters," McAllister said. "When my contractors say they're done, they are." He also invited city staff and elected officials to contact him directly with problems.

Councilmember Oscar Ortiz asked about recent outages affecting 911 service and whether those were tied to Frontier’s network. McAllister said the company has experienced a rash of copper-cable theft and some contractor damage, which he identified as the principal cause of outages in the region. "Most of your outages is because somebody cut our cable," he said, adding that repairs are costly and that Frontier is working with the sheriff’s office to address theft.

When asked how many Frontier customers currently subscribe in Indio, McAllister said that number was proprietary and he could not provide it at the meeting. On pricing, he said plans start as low as about $29 a month and that one‑gigabit service is commonly chosen by customers (he mentioned a typical price point around $64 per month for 1G service). He also said two‑gigabit and seven‑gigabit tiers remain higher-priced.

McAllister described business offerings separately and said some commercial customers could require high‑capacity connections (for example, 100 Gbps). He reiterated Frontier’s commitment to follow up on specific contractor issues and to work directly with the city on constituent reports.

The council did not take formal action on the presentation. McAllister asked attendees to contact him if they see post‑construction issues; councilmembers and staff accepted his offer to be a local point of contact.

For the public: the presentation did not include a firm timetable for the entire city, a full customer count or binding commitments on future phases; McAllister said buildout beyond the current phase depends on corporate decisions and potential changes in ownership.