SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549


                                    FORM 8-K


                                 CURRENT REPORT

                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
                       the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

        Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 2, 2001




                        CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)


            Delaware                      001-11001              06-0619596
  (State or other jurisdiction          (Commission           (I.R.S. Employer
       of incorporation)                File Number)         Identification No.)

                        3 High Ridge Park, P.O. Box 3801
                           Stamford, Connecticut 06905
               (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

                                 (203) 614-5600
               (Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)



                           No Change Since Last Report
                 ----------------------------------------------
          (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
















Item 5.  Other Events.

         Citizens   Communications  Company  announced  on   July  2,  2001  the
         completion of its  acquisition  of  Global  Crossing's  local  exchange
         telephone business, which operates under the name Frontier Telephone.

Item 7.  Financial Statements, Exhibits

         (c) Exhibits

             99.1  Press  Release  of  Citizens Communications Company  released
             July 2, 2001 announcing the completion of its acquisition of Global
             Crossing's local  exchange telephone business, which operates under
             the name Frontier Telephone.




                                                    Citizens Communications
                                                    3 High Ridge Park
                                                    Stamford, CT 06905
                                                    203.614.5600
                                                    Web site: www.czn.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:                                Contact:
Brigid Smith                            Tor Constantino
A.V.P., Corporate Communications        Dir., Corporate Communications
Citizens Communications                 Frontier Telephone
203.614.5042                            716.777.1601
bsmith@czn.com                          salvatore_constantino@frontiercorp.com
--------------                          --------------------------------------

       CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF GLOBAL CROSSING'S
                           LOCAL TELEPHONE OPERATIONS
            CREATES ONE OF NATION'S LARGEST RLECs, SERVING MORE THAN
                            2.5 MILLION ACCESS LINES

Stamford,  Conn.,  July  2,  2001  -  Citizens  Communications  (NYSE:CZN,  CZB)
announced the completion of its acquisition of Global  Crossing's local exchange
telephone  business,  which  operates  under the name  Frontier  Telephone.  The
transaction  involved the purchase of approximately 1.1 million telephone access
lines for $3.5 billion in cash.

Leonard Tow,  chairman and chief executive  officer of Citizens  Communications,
said,  "This  is a  momentous  day for our  company.  With the  closing  of this
transaction,  Citizens  becomes one of the nation's largest rural local exchange
companies  (RLEC).  This  acquisition  gives us the critical mass and geographic
concentration  necessary to meet our corporate  profitability goals.  Frontier's
talented  management will be integrated with Citizens'  management team and play
an important role in the company's future,  providing  continuity of supervision
for the  acquired  properties  that  will  benefit  both our  customers  and our
shareholders."

Rudy Graf,  president and chief  operating  officer of Citizens  Communications,
stated,  "We are pleased to add Frontier's access lines, 85 percent of which are
located in states in which we already  operate,  to our portfolio of properties.
The Frontier name is one that customers associate with quality service."

Martin Mucci,  Frontier's chief executive officer,  said, "On behalf of Frontier
Telephone's 3,000 employees, I want to say that we are all delighted to become a
part of a  company  with  such a long and  distinguished  history  of  providing
quality wireline  communications  services to small- and medium-sized  towns and
cities."

About Citizens Communications
Citizens  Communications  serves 2.5 million  access  lines in 24 states and has
contracted  to acquire an  additional  600,000  access  lines.  Citizens owns 85
percent  of  Electric  Lightwave,   Inc.   (NASDAQ:ELIX),   a  facilities-based,
integrated  communications  provider  that  offers a broad  range of services to
telecommunications-intensive  businesses  throughout  the  United  States.  More
information about Citizens can be found at www.czn.net.

This document contains forward-looking  statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties  that could cause actual results to differ  materially  from those
expressed or implied in the statements. These and all forward-looking statements
(including oral  representations)  are only predictions or statements of current
plans that are  constantly  under  review by the  company.  All  forward-looking
statements  may differ  from  actual  results  because  of, but not  limited to,
changes in the local and overall economy,  changes in market conditions for debt
and equity securities,  the nature and pace of technological changes, the number
and  effectiveness of competitors in the company's  markets,  success in overall
strategy,  changes in legal or regulatory  policy,  changes in legislation,  the
company's  ability to identify future markets and  successfully  expand existing
ones, the mix of products and services  offered in the company's target markets,
the effects of  acquisitions  and  dispositions  and the ability to  effectively
integrate businesses  acquired.  These important factors should be considered in
evaluating any statement  contained  herein and/or made by the company or on its
behalf.  The  foregoing  information  should  be read in  conjunction  with  the
company's filings with the U.S.  Securities and Exchange  Commission  including,
but not limited to,  reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. The company does not intend
to update or revise these  forward-looking  statements to reflect the occurrence
of future events or circumstances.




                                   Signature
                                   ---------


Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
Registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


                CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
                -------------------------------
                         (Registrant)


                  By: /s/ Robert J. Larson
                      -------------------------------------------
                      Robert J. Larson
                      Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer

Date: July 2, 2001