COEUR d'ALENE - It's been more than 90 days since Frontier Communications Corp. acquired Verizon Communication operations in North Idaho and other areas, and the company now has plans to take some really big leaps.

Frontier's three-year strategy for North Idaho calls for a 30 percent increase in high-speed Internet access to homes here.

"It's a quantum leap," said Mike Towne, Frontier's area general manager in Idaho and Montana. "It's significant, it's aggressive."

He said North Idaho homes with access to high-speed Internet will jump from about 55 percent to 85 percent.

Frontier technicians will complete home installations of high-speed Internet, he said, which is a different approach from the days of Verizon. That company, he said, mailed out the necessary hardware to customers and had them make the install themselves.

He understands that Frontier's approach on installs will mean a greater investment of resources for the company than might be required.

"That's going to be a lot of dispatches" of Frontier crews, Towne said. "You'll see our trucks everywhere."

Wi-Fi also is in Frontier's plans, he said.

"Frontier is big on offering Wi-Fi hotspots," he said. "Wi-Fi is absolutely a strategy for us, whether it's a hotspot strategy or a citywide mesh strategy. Now, the question becomes when do we get into the community" with it?

The company will be on the hunt for opportunities to bring more Wi-Fi to North Idaho.

"But (Wi-Fi) is not something we need to develop and try out - we have that technology," Towne said.

Frontier also has plans for bringing a lot of fiber-optic network infrastructure to North Idaho, he said.

The company likes fiber because of the network reliability it provides and that it's a gateway for other media.

"Those locations that have fiber-to-the-home are much better prepared for the next generation, the next phase of whatever goes on," Towne said.

Frontier is working with economic development leaders in the North Idaho area to make sure that the communications infrastructure necessary for future business growth is in place. Frontier intends to provide customers here with the same services available to businesses and residents in large metropolitan areas.

Frontier will have business account executives living and working in North Idaho, which Towne said is also different from Verizon's approach. Verizon, he said, relied on executives from outside the area to meet with customers one-on-one.

Those account representatives will be in regular contact with business and residential customers here, he said. There will be about four of those representatives in North Idaho.

"I'm hoping in the next 30 days the person (for Coeur d'Alene) is in the marketplace," he said.

In the first 90 days, Frontier has been working to make sure people know about the company and its plans.

"We're out telling the Frontier story," both to customers and the former Verizon employees it brought on board in the acquisition, Towne said. "We're transforming employees over to the Frontier culture."

One point he likes to make when telling the story is that Idaho is Frontier's kind of market.

"It fits right with Frontier's strategy," serving rural communities, he said. "Frontier's concept is to enable people to work where they want to live."

Maybe that's by a lake, he said.

On July 1, Frontier announced that it had completed the acquisition of Verizon's local wireline operations in 14 states, including Idaho. Frontier said the transaction made it the largest pure rural telecommunications carrier in the U.S.

Towne said that in the Coeur d'Alene area, Frontier has more than 200 employees. The employees include back-office staff, customer service representatives, and technical and engineering service members.

Frontier has facilities and operations at 747 W. Prairie Ave., 7400 Mineral Drive, and at 2115 N. Government Way.