Fairpoint Commits To DSL Rollout in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

I've written in the past about the Verizon Northern State (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) sell off to Fairpoint Communications and have expressed my concerns about the lack of bandwidth in these states. An article in the Benninton (Vermont) Banner on July 12 described DSL rollout by Faipoint in Bennington County and also discussed expansion in all 14 Vermont counties. Fairpoint spokeswoman Beth Fastiggi is quoted in the piece as follows:

By 2010, we hope to have at least 80 percent of households in the state with DSL access and.... we hope to have every customer in half of our exchanges access by 2010 as well.

The piece makes it clear that initial rollout coverage will not be available to everyone. Fastiggi is further quoted:

We're doing certain areas in each town — nothing we're doing encompasses the entire town. I don't want to say we're expanding bit by bit, but we are moving neighborhood by neighborhood.

Regarding the future for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont customers, Fastiggi is quoted:

The current expansion is all using DSL. The network we're building is capable of being upgraded. It can use the higher-speed DSL service, and can use fiber.

The Banner piece also claims Fairpoint's DSL service starts at $17.99 per month which (at the time of this writing) I have not been able to confirm. I could also not confirm downstream and upstream bandwidths.

Fairpoint Communications April 17 Investor Call Update

Last week I wrote about the April 17 Fairpoint Communications Investor call that was help last Thursday. The call was a long one, lasting 107 minutes (!). I've listened to it, looked at the slides, etc - here's the major technology and integration highlights I got from the call.

With the Verizon Northern States (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) acquisition, the company currently:

- Is the 8th largest local telephone company in the U.S.
- Operates in 18 states
- Serves 1,616,171 Voice Access Lines
- Serves 290,577 Broadband Lines that represent approximately an 18% penetration

Broadband penetration rates are currently low compared to peers and the company admits this. FairPoint penetration is 18% while peer average is 25%.

Fairpoint believes the increased size, economies of scale and extensive network are expected to improve cost structure and enhance product capabilities and sees opportunities for revenue in four areas:

- Increased broadband availability and IP based services

- Buildout of IP / MPLS networks will support new services
- Broadband addressability will be expanded from 68% of access lines to over 90% within five years

- New product bundles

- The IP / MPLS network upgrade will provide flexible business platforms

- Increased focus on local sales and marketing

- New local and experienced sales force of 50 employees being deployed
- Significant DSL build-out will increase availability to all customers

- Strong focus on business segment

I've listed on only some of the technology components and integration issues here - there is also a lot of good business & financial information for investors and Fairpoint employees.

You can download the full set of slides, listen to the audio presentation, and watch the webcast for detail information. All content can be accessed here.

Fairpoint Teleconference on Purchase of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont on Thursday

Fairpoint Communications will be hosting a teleconference on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss the Company's recently completed transaction in which FairPoint acquired Verizon Communications' landline and certain related operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Scheduled for the call from Fairpoint:

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gene Johnson
President, Peter Nixon
Chief Financial Officer, John Crowley

According to a Fairpoint press release posted on Fox Business, a slide presentation will be made publicly available prior to the conference call in the "Presentations" section of their Investor Relations page linked here. This morning (Sunday, 4/13/08) the presentation had not been posted yet. The press release also says the call will allow ample time for a Q&A session.

Here's the live call in information:

Lines open at 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, April 17, 2008
Call in number: (888) 253-4456 (US/Canada) or (706) 643-3201 (international)
Request the FairPoint Communications call or Conference ID# 4335773

The teleconference will be recorded and made available if you cannot make the live call. Here's the replay information:

Number: (800) 642-1687
Confirmation code 43357737
Recording Availability: Thursday, April 17, 2008 at approximately 1:00 p.m. ET through Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 11:59 p.m.

In addition, an online Webcast replay will be available beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on April 17, 2008 and will remain available for one year.

If you've been following my writing you know I have great concerns about the availability of broadband services in rural parts of the United States. This will be an interesting teleconference - I'll be listening and writing about it here.

Campus Internet Access: Shall We Seek Another Way?

Over the past 5 or 6 years I've been to a lot of different campuses scattered around the country. I can't think of one that I've been to recently that was not struggling with bandwidth issues. Students, faculty and staff on college campuses are like sponges when it comes to bandwidth - we soak up as much as the provider can supply.

Accessing bandwidth hungry applications during peak usage times can be very frustrating - especially if that application is part of a lecture or exam. In addition to the cost of bandwidth, colleges and universities are also responsible for installation, 24/7 maintenance and upgrading of the network infrastructure.

Perhaps it's time to consider another way. I've written in the past about successful public/private partnerships and today came across an interesting press release from AT&T. Here's a piece from that press release:

The University of Houston and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced the nation's first planned deployment of AT&T U-verse^SM services into student housing on a college campus. The cutting-edge TV and high speed Internet services will be included in every room of a 547,000-square-foot residence hall under construction for graduate and professional students.

These kinds of relationships make a lot of sense to me - a public university contracting with a private company to provide services. AT&T will be responsible for installing, maintaining and upgrading their network while the University of Houston will be responsible for teaching and student learning. I would think it also passes on a lot of BitTorrent/copyright liability from the University of Houston to AT&T...... it makes sense for both the university and AT&T to go this way for a number of reasons.

Also, from AT&T's perspective, it gets their products out there in students hands .... an impressed and satisfied student is a future satisfied residential/business/wireless customer.
Here's more from the press release:

"We are delighted that University of Houston students will be able to enjoy the same advanced AT&T U-verse services as an ever-expanding number of consumers across the Houston area," said Ed Cholerton, AT&T vice president and general manager for the Houston area. "We share the university's commitment to the best communications and entertainment technology."

What will be next? I'm figuring on a wireless access option for students via an AT&T wireless network at the University of Houston.

It will be interesting to see how many other academic institutions and providers move in this direction.