FairPoint Communications Taps Duke Exec As New CEO

The company lost 12 percent of its residential and business lines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2008; That rate is nearly 5 percentage points higher than the nationwide average for peer companies. And its credit rating was downgraded by three ratings agencies last month after the company said it was exploring a possible restructuring of its debt.

The company has improved its service in the past couple of months, Hauser said. The average customer service wait time has fallen from 15 minutes on April 1 to less than a minute, he said. At the same time, the number of back orders for phone service has fallen from 13,000 to less than 4,000.

Still, Hauser said the company needs to reduce costs and fix its "debt problems," he said. He did not rule out the possibility of job cuts.

"I think FairPoint has its challenges, as I think is known, but I believe I can step in and make a difference and drive this company in the right direction," he said.

Johnson, 62, announced in November he was planning to retire this year.

Johnson, who co-founded FairPoint in 1991, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and pursuing his recreational interests.