FairPoint: Broadband benchmark met
By DENIS PAISTE
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 Share on Facebook
MANCHESTER – FairPoint Communications Inc. told state regulators yesterday it has met a 75 percent broadband availability milestone due Sept. 30.
"FairPoint is pleased to inform you that we have obtained seventy-five point nine percent (75.9%) attainment of Broadband availability to the New Hampshire customer base," Kevin M. Shea, the company's vice president of government relations in New Hampshire, said in a letter to Public Utilities Commission Director Kathryn M. Bailey.
The company said it increased availability of high-speed Internet access from 63.86 percent when it bought northern New England landlines from Verizon in March 2008 to 75.9 percent.
New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Meredith A. Hatfield said she expects the Public Utilities Commission to review the filing, particularly since FairPoint could be subject to a $500,000 penalty for each percentage point it missed a Sept. 30 deadline to reach 75 percent.
"It's good if it's true because they have to meet 85 percent in another five months," Hatfield said.
FairPoint counted 14,000 lines described as RT/CO (remote terminal/central office) ready for turn up. Without those lines, it only reached 73.4 percent qualification.
"The commission would want to make sure even though this was filed late, it was ready on that date," Hatfield said.
The company said it is making additional qualifications every day. Availability means a customer can request connection to the service from a residence or business. FairPoint did not disclose actual broadband sales figures.
Although it filed the report with the PUC late yesterday afternoon, FairPoint said in the letter it reserved its right to argue that the proceedings requiring the report are stayed or should be stayed in connection with its Oct. 26 filing for bankruptcy reorganization.
In New Hampshire, as part of its approval to purchase landlines from Verizon, FairPoint agreed to expand broadband Internet availability to 75 percent of its access lines in New Hampshire within 18 months of the closing and to 85 percent of its access lines within 24 months of that date.
The sale closed March 31, 2008, making the first deadline Sept. 30, 2009, and the second March 31, 2010.
In a report accompanying the letter, FairPoint said is had qualified 419,668 lines as ready to provide broadband service out of 552,600 in its New Hampshire service territory, or 75.9 percent.
FairPoint said included 2,997 fiber optic addresses that Verizon hadn't previously included in its count.
FairPoint asked in separate filings with the three commissions yesterday for a 21-day extension on all pending regulatory matters during the period of Oct. 26, 2009, through Nov. 13, 2009.
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With all the complaining I see here I'm still sitting back enjoying my 30/15mbit fiber optic line.
Try getting that through any cable company in NH.:-)
- David Hunt, Litchfield
Wow! 75%. Aim High!
I agree with Pete in Pembroke. You see, there's this stuff called fiber optics; Fairpoint (and PUC for that matter) - have you heard of it?
- Rick, Hampton
Woo Hoo !!!! Copper pair DSL. Fairpoint thrusts NH onto the information dirt road! Honestly...They have to stop using the 15 year old definition of broadband. This is really old technology. Advertising DSL as broad band is fraud.
- Pete, Pembroke nh
Thank you people for reminding me why I call New Hampshire, "Red Neck North"
I am totally wireless now, have used my Verizon card down the eastern seaboard, no problem.
By the way:
WildBlue Brings High-Speed Satellite Internet To You
Satellite Internet is fast becoming rural America's answer for high-speed Internet service. Available virtually anywhere within the contiguous U.S., WildBlue picks up where Cable and DSL Internet service ends. So if you're stuck with dial-up, switch to WildBlue.
- Dave Woods, Newton,NH
Fairpoint has been a mess since the beginning. Right now their stock is only trading for maybe 20 cents a share! Their DSL service is crappy, accounts are still messed up and their customer service skills are still in the toilet! If you have any other choice at all, be it cell phone, sidekick, cable internet or Voip phone I would chose ANY other option but Fairpoint! They are not worth it.
- Shauna, Littleton
How this studid company can stay in business is beyond me when they don't even know how to pay themselves for my DSL computer internet access service and I have been set up with automatic electronic deduction from my checking account from the beginning when they took over, yet they are sending me bills saying my account is overdue. Yet when they first took over they were still deducting the bill from my account.
- Dave, Manchester
Not overly happy with Fairpoint, but who gave them a deadline to get DSL to rural parts of NH so quickly? Verizon dumped land lines and left Fairpoint with a difficult mess. We need to stop saddling businesses with government mandates and then wondering why they're having difficulties.
- Matt, Manchester
Ms Hatfield: if you want to be a real consumer advocate, please stop your endless carping at Fairpoint and take a look at Comcast and PSNH. NH media won't.
- Mary Beth, Bedford
This is typical for Fairpoint asking for taxpayers money to roll out DSL. Their MO is using the Universal Service fund to roll out DSL in rural areas and then give their stockholders a dividend and the execs get huge bonuses. Then they become a monopoly in these rural areas charging up to $80.00 per month for the 1.5 mps DSL.Crony capitalism at its worst. Of course today there is no dividend, but using taxpayer dollars to cover capital expenses is nothing new.
Oh DSL is not broadband by the way. The bar has moved up.
- Chris, Merrimack
This is the same company that told the PUC they were capable of taking over landline service in NH. They believed them then. How the PUC is even involved in this at this stage is beyond me. They have proven that they don't even know what they are supposed to be regulating.
- Ken, Bedford
Maybe this is just another example of political inaction or "spin" of the truth. You know how politicians say one thing but reality and actions prove they were either lying or "spinning". I'm guessing that the PR folks at FairPoint have taken some lessons from NH's politicians.
- Gary L. Kerr, Chichester
ok i have dsl where i live and after fairpoint took over from verizion and the switch over to fairpoints own quipment. my speed is slower then dial up from 5 pm to whenever i wake up in the am. i called them. they sent a tech out to check and then i got a call from fairpoint saying that there is a problem with their equipment and that there is no fix,but thanked me for being a fairpoint customer and hope i stay with them.. saving my money and switching to cable asap...
- b kimball, lyndon vt
When will the truth be known? Many of us who are doomed to dial-up feel slighted
as we live on a state highway(124) without any attempt to upgrade our internet access.
Try calling them and listen to their political stance on how much they have accomplished and how much longer we have to wait.
An aside: their monthly bills are certainly on time!!!!
- E.R., Jaffrey, Jaffrey
Am I hallucinating?
Is this the same company that was just quoted in the news THIS WEEK saying the only way for them to roll out broadband (as promised) was if they got an $11 million federal bailout??
"FairPoint's broadband effort relies on stimulus"
Fairpoint has drank too much of its own Kool-aid. Sound like they have stated to believe their own Hollywood produced diagnostics system.
- Chris, Bow