A recently completed project extends FairPoint broadband coverage to 50 communities in their New England footprint. Extending the company’s fiber network some 17,000 miles, the FairPoint broadband service expansion brings high-speed Internet connectivity to some areas that have never had it before and/or raises network speeds in 18,300 Vermont locations, according to a press release.
Depending on the distance from the customer premises to FairPoint’s service equipment, download speeds at theses locations now reach up to 15 Mbps.
FairPoint Broadband Coverage
FairPoint leveraged investment capital from the FCC Connect America Fund, as well as its own, to carry out its broadband expansion program in Vermont. The fund was created to support provision of broadband access in high-cost areas.
FairPoint accepted $37.4 million CAF capital in exchange for agreeing to roll out broadband Internet access to areas of its service territories where it didn’t exist. Overall that includes bringing broadband connectivity to approximately 105,000 locations in 14 states.
Management also declined to accept $0.8 million in FCC CAF funds to carry out projects in Colorado and Kansas. In a press release, FairPoint noted that it was accepting funding for some locations that “will prove to be uneconomical to serve” but added that it opted to accept funding “based on many factors including the totality of the business and regulatory model for each state.”
The company said it has invested more than $900 million in its communications infrastructure to expand its fiber broadband network footprint and services in northern New England since April 2008.
