FairPoint Grows Ethernet Mobile Backhaul Business

January 21, 2013

FairPoint Communications, a telecom provider across 18 states, said its Ethernet mobile backhaul business in northern New England is expected to increase by more than 39 percent in 2013.

By the end of 2012, less than two years since FairPoint embarked on its fiber-to-the-towers initiative, FairPoint has increased the number of its mobile carrier contracts to more than 950 mobile connection points on its fiber backhaul network. The company intends to increase the number of these mobile connection points to more than 1,300 in 2013 based on signed contracts. FairPoint expects to increase its Ethernet mobile backhaul services to more than 1,000 towers by the end of the year in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

“FairPoint’s investment in wireless space is smart business,” said Tony Tomae, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, in a company statement. “This demonstrates that our initial investment has had a significant payoff because the major carriers have joined FairPoint’s Ethernet mobile backhaul network.”

The company has invested more than $200 million in its network, which provides its wireless carrier customers with the latest technology. This next-generation network is strategically located, allowing FairPoint to provision new technology advances like small cell applications.