FairPoint Communications Inc. has announced plans to spend $44 million more than the $200 million it planned for back-office infrastructure when it revealed plans to buy Verizon’s operations in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

     The provider of communication services to rural and small urban communities also plans to create 675 jobs in the three-state region as opposed to initial goal of 600 detailed in January. FairPoint said the deal will close in January 2008.

     The added investment in job creation is welcome news in and beyond the largely rural three-state region perhaps better known for year-round tourism and seclusion than large corporate headquarters of commercial products makers.

     As part of its broadband plan, FairPoint intends to invest an initial $13.8 million in the expansion of broadband services in Vermont and a total of approximately $44 million in all three states combined.

     The company said the broadband strategy being introduced in Vermont will be similar to the network being developed for Maine and New Hampshire.

     “Our customers enjoy, on average, 92 percent broadband accessibility in the markets we currently serve and we intend to keep improving that availability level,” said FairPoint Executive Vice President Walter Leach Jr., in a statement. “We intend to continue expanding broadband in Verizon’s current markets, where only approximately 62 percent of the customers have access to a Verizon broadband product today, so that those markets reach that same high level of service.”

     More specifically, FairPoint is proposing to execute a multiyear network enhancement plan with a major kick-off investment during the first 18-24 months following the merger. Its goal is to extend broadband services to an additional 41,000 access lines in Vermont alone.