MONTPELIER, Vt. – The proposed sale of Verizon land lines in northern New England goes before state regulators this month with executives from would-be buyer FairPoint Communications Inc. testifying before the Vermont Public Service Board this week.

FairPoint, based in Charlotte, N.C., has endured skepticism about its ability to complete the transaction, taking over about 325,000 phone lines in Vermont and about 1.5 million total in northern New England. Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have to sign off on the $2.7 billion deal, which would make FairPoint the eighth-biggest phone company in the nation.

The technical hearings, which begin today and continue through Friday and later in the month, mark the first formal interaction between FairPoint and Vermont’s regulator.

FairPoint Vice President Walter Leach plans to tell the board how the company would bring new jobs and improve broadband Internet capabilities in the state.

“It’s about bringing more broadband access to Vermont customers,” Leach said Tuesday.

The company, which has started a radio campaign followed by television spots, plans to increase Internet access from 62 percent across the region to 90 percent in the short term and has promised 675 new jobs in addition to the roughly 3,000 employed in the region by Verizon.

But critics worry that the relatively small company won’t be able to make the investments needed to provide state-of-the-art technology.

“We’re hoping they are going to see what it is: It’s not good for Vermont,” Mike Spillane, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2326, said of the three-member board. “They’re not going to bring technical jobs into Vermont.”

Technical jobs are needed to provide up-to-date Internet service, he said. “There’s a big investment that’s going to need to be done. We don’t see FairPoint is going to be able to do that,” Spillane said.

Last week, FairPoint officials told authorities in Maine they intend to spend $16.1 million to expand broadband Internet service there.

The plan would expand the availability of high-speed Internet in more than 100 neighborhoods and communities and bring the service to 30 additional communities for the first time. The investment is in addition to $12 million previously committed by Verizon.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission has scheduled public hearings on Sept. 18, 20 and 25. New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission plans hearings in late October.

The Vermont board is expected to issue a decision sometime after the final briefings, due Oct. 31, are filed.