ISP Frontier Communications reported losses of five billion and four-fifty million dollars ($5.45B) in the form of goodwill impairment charge which could affect costs of its services for the affected regions, particularly eLearning.
As a foreboding of things to come, Frontier Communications had cautioned investors that profits could continue diminishing in future quarters. Notably, if this prevails, the broadband subscription prices for eLearning could be adversely affected.
This comes at a time when the Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Education has asserted that broadband prices may prove to be expensive to low-income families.
For instance, the cost of buying a computer and connectivity charges might be out of their reach. It goes without saying that high prices may prohibit/limit Internet access for home-schooled students and schools.
ISP Frontier’s dwindling financial performance
This company has been experiencing considerable financial challenges. The situation has been in dire finances to the extent that it refused to reply to questions from concerned investors. This happened yesterday during a call for its quarterly earnings.
Frontier asserted that the second-quarter income of two billion and seventy million dollars ($2.07B) had declined from two billion and one-sixty million dollars ($2.16B).
The amount represented a loss of ninety million dollars ($90M). Moreover, Frontier reported a net loss of five billion and three-twenty million dollars ($5.32B) based on the goodwill impairment that the levy entailed.
ISP Frontier’s costly goodwill impairment
Goodwill entails a company’s market value with the exemption of its assets. Frontier experienced an expensive goodwill impairment because of supposed lasting revenue deteriorations.
Some of the factors triggering this trend include business pressures and lessened transformation of the program’s expectations.
Moreover, an inferior outlook is being witnessed in the overall sector. As a result, Frontier’s capital structure sustainability has been negatively affected.
Currently, the ISP Frontier’s goodwill balance stands at two million and seventy-six million dollars ($276M). Nevertheless, prevailing impairments are probable as they may be instigated by continuing reviews of operations and business.
Frontier has been on a losing streak because the supposed sale of Northwest Operations instigated a three hundred and eighty-four million dollars ($384) forfeiture.
ISP Frontier’s customer loyalty declines
Frontier’s significant losses have triggered a lower subscription trend. Notably, in twenty-nine (29) states, its customer base has declined by two hundred and thirty thousand (230,000) people compared to last year.
Additionally, video customers reduced from seven hundred and thirty-eight thousand (738,000) from nine hundred and two thousand (902,000) in 2018’s second quarter.
Fiber services rendered by ISP Frontier have also not been spared. The losses from fiber broadband reached ten thousand (10,000) whereas client copper broadband was forty-six thousand (46,000).
These losses were incurred despite ISP Frontier’s plans to implement fiber upgrades at home so that it can reach ten (10)Gbps. ELearning is jeopardized by high broadband costs as students are not able to link to virtual courses.
How is eLearning affected by Broadband costs?
Rudiments of eLearning must be understood to show the connection between cost and access. Primarily this type of learning utilizes electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or degree delivered completely online.
There are many terms used to describe learning that is delivered online, via the internet, ranging from Distance Education to computerized electronic learning, online learning, internet learning, and many others. We define eLearning as courses that are specifically delivered via the internet to somewhere other than the classroom where the professor is teaching.
It is not a course delivered via a DVD or CD-ROM, videotape or over a television channel. It is interactive in that the student can also communicate with his teachers, professors or other students in his class. Sometimes it is delivered live, where the student can “electronically” raise his hand and interact in real-time and sometimes it is a lecture that has been prerecorded.
There is always a teacher or professor interacting /communicating with the student and grading his participation, his assignments, and tests. eLearning has been proven to be a successful method of training and education. For developing countries, eLearning is becoming a way of life.
