FairPoint-Verizon Deal Gets the Green Light

FairPoint says it plans to broadband-enable the networks it hopes to claim from Verizon. In an attempt to make that happen while also addressing con-sumer advocate concerns, the Maine PUC suggested Verizon allocate funds to help FairPoint upgrade the networks to broadband and support other efforts to maintain quality service. The other PUCs followed suit on the suggestion, so Verizon has agreed to provide FairPoint with $235.5 million total for all three states as part of the deal.

But rather than taking fiber all the way to the customer premises, as the FiOS architecture does, the FairPoint plan is to use ADSL2+ technology initially in what will be a phased approach to bringing broadband to these new markets.

Although the deal with Verizon has not yet received all necessary approvals, FairPoint has announced plans to use Occam Networks Inc.’s gear in the access and edge portions of the network. FairPoint will overlay the existing SONET transport network with a Cisco Systems Inc. 10gig IP/MPLS core net-work based on a meshed architecture using DWDM technology, says Michael Brown, vice president of access network engineering at FairPoint, who is heading up the broadband expansion project for northern New England.

The ADSL2+ technology will be capable of delivering up to 26mbps on the downstream and up to 1.2mbps on the upstream, but actual bandwidth will depend in part upon loop length, says Brown. That should be plenty of bandwidth for those customers requiring only high-speed Internet access, he says, but if customers also want other services like TV, more bandwidth likely will be necessary.

FairPoint Communications Inc. www.fairpoint.com

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