According to a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the North Carolina-based telecommunications firm, FairPoint Communications, would likely file for bankruptcy by 2009-end, in case its debt holders refuse to allow the company to defer its interest payments.

In its Wednesday filing with the SEC, Fairpoint said that bankruptcy might be the only resort left before the cash-strapped company, which struck a $2.3 billion deal last year for buying Verizon’s landlines and Internet services in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The company said that it has been experiencing persistent problems pertaining to its financial, service, and technical aspects.

As of now, the company foresees its disability in paying the interest due on $530 million in loans, in October. The company has asked its lenders to exchange their notes for new loans, so that it can get some more time to make the repayment.

In its nine-page memo filed with the SEC, FairPoint states that if it is unable to postpone payment on some of its debts, it “may need to seek alternative restructuring plans, or a bankruptcy proceeding, which could negatively impact or completely eliminate the company's ability to meet its cash interest payment obligations to holders of notes.”

Beth Fastiggi, FairPoint's spokeswoman for its Vermont operations, said that delay in some debt payments is “critical” to the company’s “continued viability.”