Phone company FairPoint Communications has decided to build the latest radio-based Internet network in Vermont.

The company has 300,000 phone customers in Vermont, most of whom it acquired from Verizon Communications this year. Since a large number of them are in rural areas, FairPoint wants to reach them using wireless WiMax gear from Nortel and Airspan.

It will be the largest planned U.S. deployment of "fixed wireless" technology as a substitute for wired Internet service. The WiMax antennas won't be portable or usable on the go and they will only manage 1 to 3 megabits per second. 

However, that is still better than the expensive and slow satellite connections that they have now.