FORT KENT – A majority of speakers voiced their support for the proposed Verizon-FairPoint telecommunications merger at the first of three Maine Public Utilities Commission public hearings Tuesday night at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Only four of 30 witnesses spoke against the $2.7 billion deal that needs the approval of the PUC in Maine as well as regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Opponents of the deal fear that FairPoint cannot deliver the high-speed, broadband telecommunications service it proposes in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.

But in Fort Kent the company has a big footprint, delivering service to a large part of the northwestern St. John Valley area.

Those who spoke in support of the company included three Aroostook County legislators, a school district official, UMFK representatives, the Northern Maine Medical Center, local users of FairPoint services, and company officials of Fraser Papers Inc. and potato processor McCain’s Foods.

More than a dozen local company employees, brought in by bus, wore green T-shirts with FairPoint’s company logo, and others sported green ribbons to show support for FairPoint.

Witnesses from as far away as Lewiston, Nobleboro and Kennebunk also commented. Five people spoke from a Houlton teleconference site and two from a Presque Isle site.

PUC Commissioner Kurt Adams said factors in deciding the case, the largest ever to come before the PUC from the communications industry, include the quality of service, the impact on rates and the company’s investment in the merger.

“We are here to listen,” he said.

PUC member Vendean Vafiades said that FairPoint “bears the burden of convincing us. We could, in the end, place conditions on the company to perform as they offer.”

Many spoke of the need for high speed broadband telecommunications for business and individuals. Some bemoaned that the service is not available now, even near population centers such as Presque Isle.

“There is not now any true viable telecommunications infrastructure,” Carl Young of Fort Fairfield said.

Sen. John L. Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said, “The company is able to handle this project, and they understand the challenges,” noting that more than 92 percent of FairPoint customers have access to broadband.

“FairPoint is a kinder telephone company, and we need them in Maine,” he said, adding that FairPoint would return 725 jobs outsourced by Verizon.

Rep. Henry Joy, R-Crystal, testifying from the Presque Isle site, urged the PUC not to stand in the path of opportunity for the rural areas of Maine. “Risk-taking is part of the fiber of Aroostook County,” he said, urging support for FairPoint.

Witnesses cited examples of FairPoint’s activities in northern Maine such as free Internet services for senior citizens groups and schools and assistance to the 2004 Biathlon World Cup held at Fort Kent.

The four who testified against the merger wondered how an underfunded company could deliver what it says it will.

Dudley Alley traveled 325 miles from Nobleboro to tell the PUC that FairPoint is spending millions on advertising to have the measure approved. “When something sounds too good to be true, it may not be,” he said.

Charles Currier of Mapleton said he didn’t believe FairPoint is big enough to give Maine the best available technology.

Leslie Kelly of Fort Kent urged the PUC to “truly look” at what FairPoint can deliver.

William Winslow of the Maine Mutual Group, a large insurance company based in Presque Isle, said, “If anything goes amiss, they are in trouble. Verizon has large resources, but what happens if this small company [FairPoint] does not survive?

“They are jumping into a large arena,” he said. “Their financial stability is questionable.”

Two more public hearings will be held, one from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at Bangor High School auditorium and one on Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Portland. The PUC will hear expert testimony later and make a decision by year’s end or early in 2008.