I've been playing one ISP off against another for years. We have three majors in our area; VZ, Comcast, and RCN. I use RCN. About once a year, I would call them up and ask to speak to someone in their "Customer Retention Dept". I would say "Hey, VZ just came by and is offering us a bundle for $100/mo before tax and fees, I want you to match it or I will leave RCN". They won't match the introductory offer from VZ but they will drop the price some and bump my connection speed up a notch, etc. Heck, this trick has resulted in me paying the same amount (still highway robbery of you ask me) every month for the past 6 years. On the phone for 30 minutes usually gets me a saving of about $150/year. I know not everyone has the patience for this and it will only work if you have more than one major serving your area (which I suspect is the case for Pembroke).
Good luck. And sorry I do not know anything about Fairpoint.
Edit: just read your post. Perhaps the above is useful info for someone else.