Frontier Communications Nabs Vodafone UK CEO To Steer Post-Bankruptcy Turnaround

Frontier Communications announced a leadership change Tuesday morning. Nick Jeffery will join the telecom to help with its emergence from its spring bankruptcy filing.

Frontier Communications will soon have a new leader as the telecom works to emerge from bankruptcy. The company on Tuesday announced that Nick Jeffery, British telecom giant Vodafone UK‘s current CEO, will become the next president and CEO of Frontier.

Longtime industry veteran Jeffery (pictured above) will succeed Frontier‘s current president and CEO of one year, Bernie Han. Jeffrey’s new appointment will begin March 1, according to Frontier.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Frontier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in April. The embattled carrier at the time said the move would reduce its debt by more than $10 billion and provide “significant financial flexibility” to support continued investment in its long-term growth plans. The embattled telecom provider in recent years has struggled with its balance sheet, citing “cord-cutting behaviors” from its customers.

[Related: Frontier Communications Eyeing A Spring Bankruptcy Filing: Report]

In December 2019, Frontier CEO Dan McCarthy stepped down from his post and from the board. At the same time, the carrier named Bernie Han, Dish Networks‘ former CFO and COO, as its new CEO and member of the board.

Han will continue to assist in Frontier’s emergence from bankruptcy until Jeffery joins and will stay on as a member of the board and to help with the CEO transition, the company said.

Jeffery said in a statement that he looks forward to helping the carrier continue its transformation. “Frontier owns a unique set of assets and maintains a competitive market position. My immediate focus will be on serving our customers as we enhance the network through investments in our existing footprint and in adjacent markets while building operational excellence across the organization,” he said in a statement.

Jeffery has spent more than three decades in the telecom space and the last seven years as CEO of Vodaphone UK, part of mobile phone provider Vodaphone Group. He‘s also held several roles within the company leading enterprise and marketing efforts. No stranger to corporate restructuring, Jeffery has experience stabilizing companies and integrating them after the acquisition process.

Frontier said this year it was selling off its operations in four states on the West Coast, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana for $1.35 billion to private investment firms WaveDivision Capital LLC and Searchlight Capital Partners LLC.

The carrier, with 17,300 employees in 25 states, in 2015 acquired Verizon's wireline assets in California, Texas and Florida for $10.54 billion.