FairPoint offering free HDTVs for fiber trials in Portsmouth, NH
by Darren Murph 
posted Dec 3rd 2008 at 11:20PM
Call us crazy, but we suspect these 100 free HDTVs (and DVRs) will be snapped up in no time flat... if they aren't all claimed already, that is. FairPoint Communications is hoping to lure a hundred Portsmouth, New Hampshire homes into testing its new fiber-based (IPTV) programming technology as it looks to compete locally with Comcast. The 90-day pilot program is set to start in January and is open to all Portsmouth residents within the FairPoint fiber-optic service area. Depending on how the tests go, many communities could look to FairPoint to provide video services, though the initial trial will include just 45 channels as critics look to judge quality, not quantity. So, what exactly are you waiting for? Get on the horn and get your name on the list!
Filed under: Industry, Misc, Displays, Fiber, New content
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
del1verance @ Dec 4th 2008 12:46AM
Thanks a lot, just applied. Totally wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for this article.
Andy Anonymous @ Dec 4th 2008 12:56AM
I hate, hate, HATE that Verizon sold out to these people. Their customer service is an abomination, and they put a halt to any and all expansion of the FiOS network they purchased in New Hampshire. All because I live on the wrong side of the state line with Massachusetts, while people ten miles away from me still get Verizon and the promise of further infrastructure upgrades.
drocpsu @ Dec 4th 2008 12:47PM
no kidding. It took them over a month to install a single phone line from the nearest pedistal to my townhouse building.
If they can't run a phone line 50 feet, I have no idea how they'd ever expand the fiber network anywhere.
Ryan C @ Dec 4th 2008 1:30AM
Interesting how they are abandoning Verizon's QAM/IP hybrid for IPTV all together.
I wonder if they're positioning themselves to get snatched up by AT&T. It's a dream deal for both sides. AT&T gets a FTTP network that's already built out, and the customers don't have to wait for FairPoint to drag its feet in adding HD channels. They can get the 80 or so offered on U-Verse.
KraziJoe @ Dec 4th 2008 11:15AM
I doubt ATT would move in as the NE is not very economically viable since there is not much population and it's spread out, which is why Verizon left.
Andy Anonymous @ Dec 4th 2008 6:11PM
That is most certainly not true in southern New Hampshire, within the quadrangle between Concord, Portsmouth, Salem and Nashua. We're only 40 minutes from Boston and it's a suburban, not rural, area.