Frontier decides Rochester Tel
has wrong name

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After 77 years, Rochester Telephone Corp. is disappearing.
Company officials on Wednesday announced plans to rename the company as Frontier Telephone of Rochester Inc. The trucks, shirts, logos and even telephone books will reflect the name change as the local- telephone company gradually adopts the Frontier name during the next 12 to 18 months.
Denise Gutstein, president of Rochester Tel, said the company wanted to take advantage of the brand recognition Frontier Corp. has built in the Rochester area. The company also wants to eliminate customer confusion regarding whether Rochester Tel and Frontier were the same or different companies.
The news received mixed reaction from employees and managers on Wednesday, Gutstein acknowledged.
“There is some emotional attachment to the name,” she said. “They also recognize it is the right business decision for the future.”
The company wants to take advantage of being part of a single corporation providing integrated telecommunications services.
“We will begin retiring the old Rochester Tel logo and begin using the Frontier logo,” she said.
The company expects to more consistently use Frontier’s corporate logo and its new tag line “Talk to One Company.”
Frontier Corp. also should benefit from enhanced local brand recognition for its long-distance, paging, cellular, Internet and calling-card services. However, company officials said the move was made to benefit Rochester Tel, not for corporate reasons.
Gutstein said the change will not cost anything beyond normal budgeted items. The company’s supplies will feature the new name and logo as the old supplies run out. Trucks bearing the new name and logo will appear as new vehicles are purchased.
Gutstein said she decided on a transition period to keep from losing Rochester Tel’s 77 years of name recognition.
“If we did a flash cut, I would be concerned. We are (doing) a very gradual shift,” she said.
The end of Rochester Tel dates back to when Rochester Telephone Corp. legally became Frontier Corp. on Jan. 1, 1995. Frontier’s subsidiary for the Rochester local-telephone area then became Rochester Telephone Corp.
Jeremiah Carr, president of the Frontier Telephone Group, said that corporation needed a new name no longer tied to one location. All of the other telephone companies owned by Frontier adopted names that included Frontier. For example, the Sylvan Lake Telephone Co. became Frontier Communications of Sylvan Lake Inc.
But because the company began in Rochester, Frontier decided to keep the Rochester Tel name for the local service here to avoid confusion.
“Two-and-a-half years later, Frontier is also an established, well-known company in Rochester and the time is right,” Carr said.
Rochester Tel, originally known as Home Telephone, was incorporated in 1920.