UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

x QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022

or

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________to__________

Commission file number: 001-11001

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (203) 614-5600

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “accelerated filer,” “large accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer ¨ Non-accelerated filer ¨

Smaller reporting company ¨ Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ¨ No x

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Common Stock as of May 2, 2022 was 244,963,000.

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Table of Contents

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1.Financial Statements

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

($ in millions and shares in thousands, except for per-share amounts)

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

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PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Continued)

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

($ in millions and shares in thousands, except for per-share amounts)

(Unaudited)

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

‎

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Continued)

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

($ in millions)

(Unaudited)

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

‎

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Continued)

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EQUITY (DEFICIT)

($ in millions and shares in thousands)

(Unaudited)

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.
‎

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Continued)

FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS PARENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

($ in millions)

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

(1) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies:

a) Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates:

Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. and its subsidiaries are referred to as “we,” “us,” “our,” “Frontier,” or the “Company” in this report. Our interim unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These interim unaudited consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary, in the opinion of Frontier’s management, to present fairly the results for the interim periods shown. Revenues, net income (loss), and cash flows for any interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for the full year.

We operate in one reportable segment. Frontier provides both regulated and unregulated voice, data and video services to consumer, business, and wholesale customers and is typically the incumbent voice services provider in its service areas.

In 2021, we recategorized our previous operating expenses categories (“Network access expenses” and “Network related expense”) into one expense line: “Cost of service”. All historical periods presented have been updated to conform to the new categorization. For our interim financial statements as of and for the period ended March 31, 2022, we evaluated subsequent events and transactions for potential recognition or disclosure through the date that we filed this Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

The preparation of our interim financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect (i) the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, (ii) the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and (iii) the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results may differ from those estimates. Estimates and judgments are used when accounting for the application of fresh start accounting, allowance for credit losses, asset impairments, indefinite-lived intangibles, depreciation and amortization, income taxes, and pension and other postretirement benefits, among others.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Emergence

On April 30, 2021, (the “Effective Date”), the Company emerged from bankruptcy. Accordingly, the consolidated financial information has been prepared in conformity with Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic 852-10 (ASC 852), Reorganizations, for the Successor as a new entity with assets, liabilities, and a capital structure having carrying amounts not comparable with prior periods.

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Reorganization items incurred in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the Chapter 11 Cases included $25 million in professional fees and other bankruptcy related costs presented separately in the accompanying consolidated statements of income.

The Company incurred significant costs associated with the reorganization, primarily legal and professional fees. Subsequent to the Petition Date, these costs were expensed as incurred and significantly affected our consolidated results of operations. From the Petition Date to the Effective date, these costs were included in Reorganization items, net on our consolidated statement of income. For the periods prior to the Petition date and following the Effective Date, these costs have been included in Restructuring costs and other charges on our consolidated statement of income. Refer to Note 9.

Fresh Start Accounting

Upon emergence from bankruptcy, we adopted fresh start accounting in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 852 – Reorganizations (ASC 852) and became a new entity for financial reporting purposes. As a result, the consolidated financial statements after the Effective Date are not comparable with the consolidated financial statements on or before that date as indicated by the “black line” division in the financial statements and footnote tables, which emphasizes the lack of comparability between amounts presented. References to “Successor” relate to our financial position and results of operations after the Effective Date. References to “Predecessor” refer to the financial position and results of operations of Old Frontier and its subsidiaries on or before the Effective Date.

During the Predecessor period, ASC 852 was applied in preparing the consolidated financial statements. ASC 852 requires the financial statements, for periods subsequent to the commencement of the Chapter 11 Cases, to distinguish transactions and events that are directly associated with the reorganization from the ongoing operations of the business. ASC 852 requires certain additional reporting for financial statements prepared between the bankruptcy filing date and the date of emergence from bankruptcy, including: (i) Reclassification of pre-petition liabilities that are unsecured, under-secured or where it cannot be determined that the liabilities are fully secured, to a separate line item on the consolidated balance sheet called, "Liabilities subject to compromise" and (ii) Segregation of “Reorganization items, net” as a separate line on the consolidated statements of comprehensive loss, included within income from continuing operations.

Upon application of fresh start accounting, we allocated the reorganization value to our individual assets and liabilities, except for deferred income taxes, based on their estimated fair values in conformity with ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. The amount of deferred taxes was determined in accordance with ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes. The Effective Date fair values of our assets and liabilities differed materially from their recorded values as reflected on the historical balance sheets.

b)Changes in Accounting Policies:

The accounting policy differences between Predecessor and Successor include:

Universal Service Fund and Other Surcharges - Frontier collects various taxes, Universal Service Fund (USF) surcharges (primarily federal USF), and certain other taxes, from its customers and subsequently remits them to governmental authorities. The Predecessor recorded USF and other taxes on a gross basis on the consolidated statement of income, included within “Revenue” and “Cost of service expense”. After emergence, the Successor records these USF and other taxes on a net basis.

Provision for Bad Debt – The Predecessor reported the provision for bad debt as a reduction of revenue. After emergence, the Successor reports bad debt expense as an operating expense included in “Selling, general, and administrative expenses”.

Contract Acquisition Costs - During the Predecessor period, certain commissions to obtain new customers were deferred and amortized over four years, which represented the estimated customer contract period. As a result of fresh start accounting, that assumption was reevaluated and the period of benefit for our retail customers was determined to be less than one year. As such, these costs are now expensed as incurred.

Actuarial Losses on Defined Benefit Plans - Historically, actuarial gains (losses) were recognized as they occurred and included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” and were subject to amortization over the estimated average remaining service period of participants. As part of fresh start accounting, Frontier has made an accounting policy election to recognize these gains and losses immediately in the period they occur as Investment and other income (loss) on the consolidated statement of income.

Government Grants Revenue - Certain governmental grants that were historically presented on a net basis as part of capital expenditures, are now presented on a gross basis and included in ”Revenue” on the consolidated statement of income.

Administrative Expenses – Historically, the Predecessor capitalized certain administrative expenses, that following emergence, are expensed during the period incurred and included in “Selling, general, and administrative expense” on the consolidated statement of income.

c) Impact of COVID-19:

While overall the operational and financial impacts to Frontier of the COVID-19 pandemic as of March 31, 2022 have not been significant, we continue to closely monitor the evolution of the pandemic, including new COVID-19 variants, as well as the ongoing impact to our employees, our customers, our suppliers and our results of operations.

In an effort to reduce the economic impacts of COVID-19, the United States federal government has responded with multiple stimulus bills. In addition, some of the states we operate in have issued executive orders as a result of COVID-19 that further impact our business. State and federal governments and health authorities may continue to recommend or mandate measures that could impact our operations. We continue to closely track our customers’ payment activity as well as external factors which could materially impact payment trends.

Frontier’s response to COVID-19 has included comprehensive operational safety precautions for our employees and customers. To date, we have not experienced significant disruptions in our workforce due to COVID-19 related absences or legislative or regulatory changes.

Through March 31, 2022, we have not experienced any material disruptions in our supply chain. However, the challenges and continuing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in further impacts to our business and operations, such as disruptions in our supply chain, inflation in pricing for key materials or labor, or other adverse changes. Some of our business partners have been impacted by COVID-related workforce absences and other disruptions which have affected our service levels and distribution of work. In particular, network electronics that require microchip processors have experienced supply chain constraints due to the global microchip shortage.

With more people working from home, we have experienced higher demands on our network and higher sales activity for our consumer broadband service offering. This sustained increase in network demand could lead to reduced network availability and potential outages, which may impair our ability to meet customer service level commitments, lead to higher costs, higher customer churn and potential increased regulatory actions. These potential changes, among others, could have a material financial impact to Frontier.

d) Revenue Recognition:

Revenue for data & Internet services, voice services, video services, and switched and non-switched access services is recognized as services are provided to customers. Services that are billed in advance include monthly recurring network access services (including data services), special access services, and monthly recurring voice, video, and related charges. Revenue is recognized by measuring progress toward the complete satisfaction of the Company’s performance obligations. The unearned portion of these fees is deferred as a component of “Advanced billings” on our consolidated balance sheet and recognized as revenue over the period that the services are provided. Services that are billed in arrears include non-recurring network access services (including data services), switched access services, and non-recurring voice and video services. The earned but unbilled portion of these fees is recognized as revenue in our consolidated statements of income and accrued in “Accounts receivable” on our consolidated balance sheet in the period that services are provided. Excise taxes are recognized as a liability when billed.

Satisfaction of Performance Obligations

Frontier satisfies its obligations to customers by transferring goods and services in exchange for consideration received from the customer. The timing of Frontier’s satisfaction of the performance obligation may differ from the timing of the customer’s payment.

Bundled Service and Allocation of Discounts

When customers purchase more than one service, revenue for each is determined by allocating the total transaction price based upon the relative stand-alone selling price of each service. We frequently offer service discounts as an incentive to customers, which reduce the total transaction price. Any incentives which are considered cash equivalents (e.g. gift cards) that are granted will similarly result in a reduction of the total transaction price. Cash equivalent incentives are accounted for on a portfolio basis and are recognized in the month they are awarded to customers.

Customer Incentives

In the process of acquiring and/or retaining customers, we may issue a variety of incentives aside from service discounts or cash equivalent incentives. Those incentives that have stand-alone value (e.g. gift cards not considered cash equivalents or free goods/services) are considered separate performance obligations. While these incentives are free to the customer, a portion of the consideration received from the customer is ascribed to them based upon their relative stand-alone selling price. These types of incentives are accounted for on a portfolio basis with both revenue and expense recognized in the month they are awarded to the customer. The earned revenue associated with these incentives is reflected in “Other” revenue while the associated costs are reflected in “Cost of services”.

Upfront Fees

All non-refundable upfront fees assessed to our customers provide them with a material right to renew; therefore, they are deferred by creating a contract liability and amortized into “Data and Internet service” for fees charged to our wholesale customers and “Other revenue” for fees charged to all other customers over the average customer life using a portfolio approach.

Customer Acquisition Costs

Sales commission expenses are recognized as incurred. According to ASC 606, incremental costs in obtaining a contract with a customer are deferred and recorded as a contract asset if the period of benefit is expected to be greater than one year. For our retail customers, this period of benefit has been determined to be less than one year. As such, the Company applies the practical expedient that allows such costs to be expensed as incurred.

Taxes, Surcharges and Subsidies

Frontier collects various taxes, Universal Service Fund (“USF”) surcharges (primarily federal USF), and certain other surcharges, from its customers and subsequently remits these taxes to governmental authorities. During the predecessor period, USF and other surcharges amounted to $55 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

In June 2015, Frontier accepted the FCC offer of support to price cap carriers under the Connect America Fund (“CAF”) Phase II program, which was intended to provide long-term support for broadband build commitments in high cost unserved or underserved areas. We recognized FCC’s CAF Phase II subsidies into revenue on a straight-line basis over the seven-year funding term which ended on December 31, 2021. We have accrued an amount for any potential shortfall in the household build commitment that we deem to be probable and reasonably estimated, and we do not expect that any potential penalties, if ultimately incurred, will be material in comparison to the established accrual.

e)Cash Equivalents:

We consider all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Restricted cash of $17 million is included in “Other current assets” as of both March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, and $32 million and $34 million are included in “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

f) Short-Term Investments:

Given the long-term nature of our fiber build, we have invested cash into short-term investments to improve interest income, while preserving funding flexibility. We have classified these short-term deposits and other investments that have original maturities of greater than three months but less than one year as short-term investments.

As of March 31, 2022, short-term investments of $900 million are comprised of term deposits earning interest in excess of traditional bank deposit rates, maturing between June 16, 2022, and August 15, 2022 and placed with banks with A-1/P-1 or equivalent credit quality. These short-term investments are in scope of ASC 320, Investments - Debt Securities. The short-term investments original maturity is greater than 90 days but less than one year, and they are classified as held to maturity, recorded as current assets and are accounted for at amortized cost.

g)Definite and Indefinite Lived Intangible Assets:

Intangible assets are initially recorded at estimated fair value. Frontier historically amortized its acquired customer lists and certain other finite-lived intangible assets over their estimated useful lives on an accelerated basis. Upon emergence from bankruptcy, customer relationship intangibles were established for business and wholesale customers. These intangibles are amortized on a straight-line basis over their assigned useful life of between 11 and 16 years. Additionally, trademark and tradename assets established upon emergence are amortized on a straight-line basis over 5 years. We review such intangible assets annually or more often if indicators of impairment arise to determine whether there is evidence that indicate an impairment condition may exist that would necessitate a change in useful life and a different amortization period.

h)Lease Accounting:

We determine if an arrangement contains a lease at inception. Right-of-use (ROU) assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating and Finance lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As most of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use our incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. The operating and finance lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes lease

incentives. Our lease terms used in accounting for leases may reflect options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Lease expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. ROU assets for operating leases are recorded to “Other Assets”, and the related liabilities recorded to “Other current liabilities”, and “Other liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets. Assets subject to finance leases are included in “Property, Plant & Equipment”, with corresponding liabilities recorded to “Other current liabilities”, and “Other liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheets. Upon emergence from bankruptcy, lease asset and liability balances were adjusted to fair value.

We assess potential impairments to our leases annually or more often if indicators of impairment arise to determine whether there is evidence that indicate an impairment condition may exist. During the first quarter of 2022, we made the decision to either not retain or market for sublease certain facilities leases, which triggered an impairment of $44 million for our finance and operating lease assets recorded as restructuring charges and other costs. See Note 9 for further details.

(2) Recent Accounting Literature:

Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Reference Rate Reform

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting". This standard provides optional expedients, and allows for certain exceptions to existing GAAP, for contract modifications triggered by the expected market transition of certain benchmark interest rates to alternative reference rates. The standard applies to contracts and other arrangements that reference the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) or any other rates ending after December 31, 2022. Frontier is evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard, including optional expedients, on our consolidated financial statements.

Government Assistance

In November 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-10, which requires business entities to disclose information about certain government assistance they receive. Such disclosure requirements include the nature of the transactions and the related accounting policy used, the line items on the balance sheet and income statement that are affected and the amounts applicable to each financial statement line item and significant terms and conditions of the transactions. ASU 2021-10 will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2021 (year ending December 31, 2022 for the Company). Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of ASU 2021-10 will have on its disclosures.

(3) Revenue Recognition:

We categorize our products, services and other revenues into the following categories:

Data and Internet services include broadband services for consumer and business customers. We provide data transmission services to high volume business customers and other carriers with dedicated high capacity circuits (“nonswitched access”) including services to wireless providers (wireless backhaul);

Voice services include traditional local and long-distance wireline services, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, as well as a number of unified messaging services offered to our consumer and business customers. Voice services also include the long-distance voice origination and termination services that we provide to our business customers and other carriers;

Video services include revenues generated from services provided directly to consumer customers as linear terrestrial television services, through DISH® satellite TV service, and through partnerships with over-the-top (OTT) video providers. Video services also includes pay per view revenues, video on demand, equipment rentals, and video advertising. The Company has made the strategic decision to limit sales of new traditional TV services, focusing on our broadband products and OTT video options;

Other customer revenue includes switched access revenue, rents collected for colocation services, and revenue from other services and fees. Switched access revenue includes revenues derived from allowing other carriers to use our network to originate and/or terminate their local and long-distance voice traffic. These services are primarily billed on a minutes-of-use basis applying tariffed rates filed with the FCC or state agencies; and

Subsidy and other regulatory revenue includes revenues generated from cost subsidies from state and federal authorities, including the Connect America Fund Phase II.

The following tables provide a summary of revenues, by category:

⁽¹⁾Lease revenue included in Revenue from contracts with customers was $16 million for both the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

⁽²⁾Due to changes in methodology during the second quarter of 2021, historical periods have been updated to reflect the comparable amounts.

⁽³⁾Subsidy and other revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2022, does not include revenue from CAF II as the program ended in 2021.

The following is a summary of the changes in the contract assets and contract liabilities: