FairPoint has no plans to stop delivering white pages in New Hampshire

Although phone books continue to fade out of the consumer's mind like the 8-track cassette, independent ILEC FairPoint Communications (Other OTC: FRCMQ.PK) has no immediate plans to stop delivering them to New Hampshire residents, reports the Nashua Telegraph.

Jill Wurm, a spokeswoman for FairPoint, said that "we have not requested a change in our requirements in New Hampshire."

FairPoint currently prints 21 versions of its phone books that are delivered to its 475,000 wireline customer base, which provides a mix of white pages, yellow pages and government listings.  

Although the phone book has been a tradition that's existed since 1878--two years after Alexander Graham Bell developed the first telephone--its use has been eclipsed by the rise of online directories and cell phones.

FairPoint's stance comes amidst the clamoring by AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) to not have to deliver phone books anymore.

Already, Verizon has gotten permission from regulators in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania to not deliver residential phone books anymore and this week it asked regulators in Maryland and Virginia for similar approvals. Similarly, AT&T only provides phone books to Houston residents on an on-demand basis.

For more:
- The Nashua Telegraph has this article

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