8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) July 23, 2012

FairPoint Communications, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	001-32408	13-3725229
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)
521 East Morehead Street, Suite 500, Charlotte, North Carolina		28202
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (704) 344-8150

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 8.01 Other Event.

On July 23, 2012, FairPoint Communications, Inc. (the “Company”) issued the press release that is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, announcing its plans to expand broadband Internet to 53 towns across Vermont, leveraging $2 million from the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund, or CAF, established last year 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.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit Number	Description
99.1	Press Release

The information contained herein and in Exhibit 99.1 hereto is being furnished and shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of such section. The information contained herein and in Exhibit 99.1 hereto shall not be incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other document pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

2

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
By:	/s/ Ajay Sabherwal
Name:	Ajay Sabherwal
Title:	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Date: July 23, 2012

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Release

Media Contacts:

Sabina Haskell

802.658.7351

shaskell@fairpoint.com

Investor Relations:

Lee Newitt

704.344.8150

lnewitt@fairpoint.com

FairPoint to Extend Broadband in 53 Vermont Towns

Broadband to reach unserved neighborhoods across Vermont

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (July 23, 2012) – FairPoint Communications announced today it is planning to expand broadband Internet in 53 towns across Vermont – in unserved neighborhoods from Troy to Halifax as well as dozens of other towns across the Green Mountain State.

In all, multiple neighborhoods in 53 towns will see this new high-speed access. These towns include: Albany, Barnard, Barnet, Belvidere, Bethel, Bloomfield, Bradford, Braintree, Brookfield, Burke, Chelsea, Glastenbury, Granby, Groton, Guildhall, Halifax, Hancock, Hardwick, Irasburg, Lemington, Lowell, Maidstone, Montgomery, Newark, Newfane, Newport Town, Pomfret, Pownal, Putney, Randolph, Reading, Rochester, Royalton, Rupert, Sandgate, Shaftsbury, Sharon, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Strafford, Stratton, Townshend, Troy, Tunbridge, Victory, Walden, Wardsboro, West Windsor, Westfield, Westminster, Whitingham, Wolcott and Woodbury.

“This is another crucial step in getting fast reliable broadband to all Vermonters,” said Mike Smith, Vermont state president for FairPoint. “With this latest project, FairPoint will have invested almost $100 million for broadband across Vermont since 2008. That’s unprecedented.”

FairPoint will leverage $2 million from the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund, or CAF, established last year 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 to approximately 7,100 locations of which more than 2,600 will qualify for CAF funding.

In addition to the Vermont expansion, the CAF funding will enable FairPoint to add broadband coverage in South China, Maine.

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 18 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 VantagePoint^SM 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/myfairpoint) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/myfairpoint).

###