FairPoint to Extend and Upgrade Broadband in 44 Maine Towns

Broadband to reach unserved and underserved neighborhoods across the state
Portland, Maine - FairPoint Communications announced today it is planning to expand and upgrade broadband Internet service in 44 Maine towns in unserved locations or locations with low-speed access across the Pine Tree state.

In all, multiple neighborhoods in 44 towns in Maine will be upgraded or see new high-speed broadband access. These towns include: Alexander, Alton, Blanchard Township, Bowdoin, Bowerbank, Bradford, Brooksville, Caribou, Caswell, Chester, Clifton, Connor Township, Dedham, Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Dresden, Eastbrook, Easton, Ellsworth, Fletcher's Landing, Greenfield TWP, Greenville, Guilford, Hudson, Lagrange, Lincoln, Linneus, Masardis, Newburgh, Newport, Old Town, Orland, Parkman, Parsonsfield, Penobscot, Porter, Sangerville, Sargentville, Sedgwick, Surry, Topsham, Wilton, Winterport and Woodland.
"Broadband access opens doors to the world for the residents and businesses in Maine and is fundamental to the state's future economic growth," said Mike Reed, FairPoint's Maine state president. "Our employees are working every day to build more broadband across the state. We are pleased to announce the availability of high-speed Internet for the residents in these 44 towns."

FairPoint will leverage $1.03 million from the Federal Communications Commission's Connect America Fund, or CAF, established in 2011 with the sole purpose to accelerate broadband buildout to the 18 million Americans living in rural areas who currently have no access to robust broadband services.

This initiative will bring broadband access or offer higher speeds to approximately 6,000 locations of which more than 1,659 locations qualify for CAF funding.

The project buildout will span three years with about a third of the communities coming online each year.

About FairPoint Communications, Inc.
FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NasdaqCM: FRP) is a leading communications provider of broadband Internet access, local and long-distance phone, television and other high-capacity data services to customers in communities across 17 states. Through its fast, reliable fiber network, FairPoint delivers high-quality data and voice networking communications solutions to residential, business and wholesale customers. FairPoint delivers Internet services through its resilient IP-based network in northern New England. This state-of-the-art fiber network provides carrier Ethernet connections to support the surging bandwidth and performance requirements for cloud-based applications like network storage, disaster recovery, distance learning, medical imaging, video conferencing and CAD/CAM along with traditional voice, VoIP, video and Internet access solutions. Additional information about FairPoint products and services is available at www.FairPoint.com. You can also connect with FairPoint on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/fairpoint), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/myfairpoint) and LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/fairpoint-communications).