FAQ
What is FairPoint Communications?
FairPoint Communications is a leading provider of communications services to communities across the United States. Incorporated in 1991, the company operates local exchange carriers that set the standard of excellence for the delivery of service to communities. FairPoint is the eighth largest phone company in the United States (based on access lines).
Today, FairPoint owns and operates 32 local exchange companies located in 18 states. The company offers an array of services, including local and long distance voice, data, television, Internet and broadband. The company has approximately 1.9 million access line equivalents across the United States.
FairPoint's leadership team has extensive experience and a long track record of successfully acquiring, integrating, owning and operating local telecommunications companies and growing its consolidated operations.
What are the basics of the transaction with Verizon?
The northern New England operations of Verizon's wireline business have been merged into FairPoint Communications. The transaction closed on March 31, 2008.
The transaction combined the personnel, local exchange assets and associated wireline business activities of Verizon in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire with FairPoint.
How does this transaction serve the public interest?
FairPoint will work with state policymakers and political leaders to serve customer and public interests. We are particularly eager to work with civic leaders and customers on initiatives to expand access to advanced services for educational, health care, civic and economic development purposes.
This merger provides multiple benefits:
- Telecommunications service that is focused on meeting the needs of the region, today and into the future
- Increased employment opportunities
- Infrastructure and community investment programs that benefit communities and the region as a whole.
What new technologies or services can customers expect?
FairPoint plans to increase broadband availability and enhance high-speed data services. We are committed to maintaining and improving the state-of-the art network infrastructure in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. As new technologies and services are developed, FairPoint will work to ensure that northern New England benefits from them.
What changed after the transaction closed?
Very few of the changes should be noticeable to customers. Changes that customers may have noticed are the FairPoint name and new customer service contact information on their bills. FairPoint has been working to ensure a smooth transition for our customers. Maintaining and improving customer service is the highest priority for FairPoint.
We are cooperating with Verizon to ensure a seamless transition and we have retained the industry-leading technical experts needed to plan and execute the transition.
Can I pay my bills online?
Online bill payment was temporarily suspended in April 2008 due to the transaction between FairPoint and Verizon. We want to assure you we are working to reintroduce this feature, and we anticipate it will be available in early 2009 on www.FairPoint.com. In the meantime, here are the current available payment options:
- Online Banking: You may pay through your banking institution’s online bill payment service.
- Recurring Automatic Credit/Debit Payments: You may enroll in a recurring payment service by submitting the coupon on your bill, authorizing your financial institution to deduct the payment amount from your checking account.
- Pay by Mail: You may simply mail us your payment along with your monthly billing statement in the envelope included with your bill.
- Pay in Person: You may pay your bill in person at a CheckFreePay location. Visit www.checkfreepay.com, go to the “Find a Location” tab and search by ZIP code using the “Agent Locator” link.
- Pay by Phone: You may call 1.800.345.6563 to pay your bill over the phone for a monthly fee of $3.50.
How can I find out about job opportunities with FairPoint?
You can check current job postings at www.FairPoint.com.
Will FairPoint provide customers with access to a faster Internet connection?
Broadband Internet connections provide greater speed and bandwidth than dial-up connections. FairPoint plans to increase overall broadband availability significantly from current levels in the northern New England region within the first 24 months after the completion of the merger, which closed on March 31, 2008.
Providing widely available broadband services is a core part of FairPoint’s business strategy.
What is the difference between an Internet connection using cable lines versus one over phone lines?
Both cable modem and DSL services provide improved connection speeds over dial-up Internet service. Typically, many homes in a given area share the same cable lines for receiving high-speed Internet service. As a result, if numerous homes in a community using cable modem service are online at the same time, the connection speeds and available bandwidth for each home can be diminished.
The DSL service provided by companies such as FairPoint is not a shared service, so a phone customer using DSL for high-speed Internet service should maintain a consistent level of connection speed and bandwidth while online – regardless of how many of their neighbors are also online at the same time. Current technology enables DSL to provide very high speed data and video services over existing phone lines.
Will FairPoint continue with the project that Verizon started to bring fiber access network services to northern New England?
FairPoint will continue to support the fiber access network services, but will not market the product by the name "Verizon FiOS" because "Verizon FiOS" is a proprietary product that is a trademark of Verizon.
FairPoint will market the service under the name FAST (fiber access speed technology).
Who do customers contact if they have questions?
Customers should contact the FairPoint customer service centers, where representatives will ensure you are on the best calling plan to satisfy your needs and calling patterns. Toll-free customer service center phone numbers are printed on all billing statements.
Business Customer FAQs
What are FairPoint’s plans for business services?
FairPoint is committed to significant investments in infrastructure and support for the telecommunications needs of the business community in northern New England. In addition to supporting the traditional existing Verizon business services, FairPoint is looking ahead, designing leading-edge platforms that will deliver enhanced services and applications.
FairPoint announced plans for a fiber-based overlay MPLS/IP backbone that will serve Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. This backbone will be unique to FairPoint and is engineered to be a highly reliable, flexible and scalable platform for competitive Ethernet and IP-based services – services that will support the long-term competitiveness of business customers.
FairPoint understands that business customers have several competing service providers in northern New England and the company’s success will be measured by our ability to deliver and support high-quality, cost-competitive services that meet the needs of businesses.
Telecommunications services are critical to my business. How are FairPoint and Verizon managing the transition of these services so there is no disruption in service?
Both FairPoint and Verizon are committed to making sure there is no disruption for customers. Even before the transaction was announced in January 2007, many internal and external processes were identified and put into motion to ensure a seamless transition.
The structure of the transaction itself includes a period of time following the close date during which Verizon remains directly involved in the back office, installation and repair support, and billing of services. This is referred to as the Transition Period, and the roles and responsibilities of both organizations are clearly defined in a document called the Transition Services Agreement (described below). All sales functions became FairPoint’s responsibility immediately after the transaction was closed on March 31, 2008.
The Transition Services Agreement between Verizon and FairPoint is a detailed plan that allows Verizon to release responsibility and FairPoint to accept responsibility for specific functions over a period of time following the closing date of the transaction. This approach is designed to ensure continuity of service and support for customers. This process is being managed carefully by both parties and will involve extensive testing and verification prior to converting to the FairPoint systems.
The commitment of both companies to a seamless transition is augmented by regulatory oversight at both the state and federal level.
Which services that my company purchased from Verizon were acquired by FairPoint and what happened to the service levels and rates we were paying?
FairPoint has assumed responsibility for all traditional Verizon services. For example, all Verizon local phone services (such as POTS or ISDN PRI) and most Verizon long distance calling plans have become FairPoint services. Data networks consisting of ATM, Frame Relay and Private Line will be transferred to FairPoint if all locations on the network are within the three northern New England states. Internet access services and mixed access services (voice and data) have transitioned to FairPoint as well.
FairPoint is committed to meeting the service level expectations set by the market and regulatory agencies. Many of the talented and experienced technicians and service representatives that formerly supported Verizon services now have become FairPoint employees as part of the transaction, helping ensure that your service level expectations continue to be met.
FairPoint committed to maintaining the current rates for at least one year for residents and businesses alike. In the case of contracted services, FairPoint is obligated to honor those prices. Many of the services FairPoint has acquired are regulated by state and federal tariffs, and require regulatory approval prior to changing the price.
Has FairPoint discontinued any business services formerly provided by Verizon?
FairPoint is obligated to continue all Verizon services that were acquired as part of the transaction. As part of the Transition Services Agreement between Verizon and FairPoint, both parties have specific responsibilities and must demonstrate the ability to transition, manage and support all business services throughout the transition. Many of the services being transitioned to FairPoint are regulated by state or federal tariffs, and FairPoint is subject to this regulatory oversight – just as Verizon was before the transaction was closed.
FairPoint plans to continually develop, evolve and support a versatile set of competitive business services that advance the business objectives of organizations throughout northern New England.
Is FairPoint able to support complex and advanced services?
After the transition of Verizon systems to FairPoint systems slated for the end of January 2009, FairPoint will directly support all of the services it acquired as a result of the transaction, including complex services.
For medium and large businesses, FairPoint’s Business Services Team is organized around field account teams consisting of an account manager, a sales engineer and a sales support specialist. These account teams are responsible for the ongoing support of assigned enterprise accounts throughout northern New England. The account team works closely with the customer operations group for business services, as well as the other support-service departments.
For example, if your company requires additional PVC on your ATM circuit, the sales engineer on your account team will assist in the design and implementation of that change, and will work with FairPoint’s internal engineering and provisioning groups to make the change.
When there is a complex repair issue, does FairPoint have the necessary resources to diagnose and correct it in a timely manner?
During the Transition Period, Verizon continues to handle internal escalations to facilitate the diagnosis and resolution of any service issues. Following the Transition Period, this responsibility will transfer to FairPoint’s repair group, and will be internally escalated as necessary to ensure prompt diagnosis and resolution. Escalations of this type may include high-level engineering support from the network, operations, product management and information technology staff, depending on the service issue.