FairPoint extended broadband to over 10,400 Maine locations in 2013

FairPoint Communications (Nasdaq: FRP) continues to make progress in rolling out broadband throughout New England, connecting more than 10,400 homes and businesses in Maine alone during the past year.

A key target of this buildout was to bring service to areas that previously had no broadband at all.

Mike Reed, FairPoint's Maine state president, said in a release that they were "able to bring high-speed Internet to the residents of more than 55 additional communities over the past year." 

To achieve this goal, the service provider has been using a mix of its own investments combined with Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase I grants. After the FCC changed the rules about how to use the funds, the telco announced last August that it was accepting $3.3 million in CAF-I funding to extend broadband services to 1,284 unserved locations and 4,211 locations that can only get access to low speed Internet connections.

In Maine, the telco allocated $1.03 million of the $3.3 million CAF-I funding grant it received to extend broadband access or offer higher speeds of 4/1 Mbps and above to about 6,000 locations--of which more than 1,659 qualified for CAF funding.

It has taken a similar approach in both New Hampshire and Vermont.

In New Hampshire, FairPoint is using the CAF funding to expand broadband service in 18 towns. Meanwhile, in Vermont the telco recently completed a $6.6 million project that will make broadband available to almost 4,000 locations in 20 communities throughout the state.

Broadband overall continues to be a major selling point for FairPoint.

While it has not announced its fourth-quarter 2013 earnings date, the telco reported that as of the end of Q3 2013, broadband penetration reached 36.9 percent of its voice lines.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
FairPoint wraps $6.6M extension project targeting 20 Vermont communities
FairPoint accepts $3.3M in CAF I rural broadband funding
FairPoint's Ethernet service revenues jump to $16.4 million
FairPoint extends broadband service into 6 Maine towns
FairPoint expands broadband footprint in 6 New Hampshire towns