Frontier Fiber vs Optimum
These two overlap in 46 metro areas and 463 towns and cities, so for a lot of people this is a real choice rather than a hypothetical one. The first question is not which is better. It is which of them can reach you.
Frontier Fiber vs Optimum at a glance
| Measure | Frontier Fiber | Optimum |
|---|---|---|
| Main technology | Fiber | Cable |
| Residential locations on that technology | 6,545,956 | 5,352,613 |
| Single technology or mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Full coverage detail | Where Frontier Fiber is available | Where Optimum is available |
We do not publish speeds or prices here. Both providers change them constantly and by market, and a stale number is worse than no number. Coverage is the part that is federally reported and verifiable.
Where you can get both
Metro areas where both Frontier Fiber and Optimum report service, ranked by how well covered the less available of the two is because that is what decides whether you genuinely get a choice.
These percentages count each operator's whole reported network. 75.5% of what Frontier Fiber files with the FCC is fiber. 70.1% of what Optimum files is cable. The FCC publishes that split nationally and never per metro, so a high number here means the operator reaches the metro, not that it reaches it on that technology.
| Metro area | Frontier Fiber | Optimum |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metro Area | 66% | 65% |
| San Angelo, TX Metro Area | 61% | 76% |
| Beckley, WV Metro Area | 50% | 71% |
| Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metro Area | 48% | 72% |
| Elkins, WV Micro Area | 47% | 54% |
| Parkersburg-Vienna, WV Metro Area | 45% | 73% |
| Charleston, WV Metro Area | 44% | 71% |
| Mount Gay-Shamrock, WV Micro Area | 43% | 62% |
| Torrington, CT Micro Area | 70% | 39% |
| Point Pleasant, WV-OH Micro Area | 31% | 34% |
| Sulphur Springs, TX Micro Area | 28% | 40% |
| Jacksonville, TX Micro Area | 27% | 43% |
| Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY Metro Area | 26% | 40% |
| College Station-Bryan, TX Metro Area | 23% | 70% |
| Bluefield, WV-VA Micro Area | 29% | 21% |
| Cullowhee, NC Micro Area | 30% | 21% |
| Marion, NC Micro Area | 25% | 20% |
| Cambridge, OH Micro Area | 51% | 19% |
| Clarksburg, WV Micro Area | 54% | 17% |
| Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area | 28% | 16% |
| Longview, TX Metro Area | 12% | 13% |
| Marietta, OH Micro Area | 10% | 46% |
| New Haven-Milford, CT Metro Area | 72% | 8% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area | 15% | 6% |
| Fairmont, WV Micro Area | 50% | 6% |
Showing 25 of 46 metro areas where both operate.
Where only one of them reaches
Frontier Fiber reports service in 25 states and Optimum in 21, and they share 12 of them. Overlap is the exception, not the rule, so if you are outside the table above this is the part that answers your question.
300 metro areas have Frontier Fiber and not Optimum
- Crossville, TN Micro Area 79% covered
- Richmond, IN Micro Area 71% covered
- Norwich-New London, CT Metro Area 70% covered
- Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT Metro Area 68% covered
- Connersville, IN Micro Area 68% covered
- Bloomington, IL Metro Area 66% covered
- Fort Wayne, IN Metro Area 65% covered
- Gloversville, NY Micro Area 64% covered
92 metro areas have Optimum and not Frontier Fiber
- Greenville, NC Metro Area 81% covered
- Lubbock, TX Metro Area 79% covered
- Amarillo, TX Metro Area 79% covered
- Andrews, TX Micro Area 76% covered
- Big Spring, TX Micro Area 73% covered
- Enid, OK Metro Area 71% covered
- Clovis, NM Micro Area 70% covered
- Helena-West Helena, AR Micro Area 68% covered
States where only Frontier Fiber reports service: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and 1 more. States where only Optimum reports service: Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Virginia.
Showing the eight best covered of each. Ranked by reported coverage within the metro, from the same FCC filing as the table above. Providers self report and overstate, so read these as a ceiling on where a company will sell to you, not a promise about your street.
Which should you pick?
Honestly, in most of the places above only one of them will actually reach your building, and that settles it. Where both do reach you, the useful question is the technology rather than the brand.
That is the case here: Frontier Fiber is mainly fiber and Optimum is mainly cable. The practical difference is upload speed and consistency rather than headline download speed, we explain what that means here.
See which one reaches your address →
What we will not do is tell you one is better because it pays us more. See the affiliate disclosure for how that works.