CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 14, 2011) – FairPoint Communications today announced it has embarked on an exciting investment in its VantagePoint network that will support more high-speed wireless services and extend fiber into more communities across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
This fiber-optic build supplies critical infrastructure known as “backhaul” for wireless traffic in the region, and will address the exploding bandwidth needs being driven by new applications for smart phones, tablets and other wireless devices. Today FairPoint supports 3G service on more than 1,600 towers in its northern New England footprint. In the transformation to 4G, FairPoint will have the capacity to provide Ethernet-over-fiber service to more than half of the towers with this initial network expansion.
“FairPoint’s Ethernet-over-fiber build to the towers will significantly increase the bandwidth to the cellular towers so that the carriers can, in turn, meet their next generation needs in the region,” said Paul H. Sunu, CEO of FairPoint. “A lot of people may not realize it’s only wireless from the mobile device to the tower. After that, it travels on a wired network – like FairPoint’s – until it connects to a fixed or mobile device.”
Community and political leaders throughout northern New England have identified high-speed connectivity and wireless coverage as one of the top priorities for the region.
Wireless carriers are in a race to keep up with Americans’ demand for reliable, high-speed mobile service and the ability to transport the data-hungry applications on high-capacity wired networks like FairPoint’s.
In addition to other initiatives to expand FairPoint’s VantagePoint network across the three states, this initiative to meet the needs of the wireless carriers calls for much of the initial build out to be completed this year.
“This is a substantial long-term investment in our network in the region. This is about ensuring that our communities, our company and our employees continue to participate in the future of telecommunications in the region,” added Sunu.
