CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – FairPoint Communications has named David L. Hauser as the new chairman and chief executive of the Charlotte company.

FairPoint said Tuesday that the 57-year-old Hauser will take over July 1, when current chairman and CEO Eugene Johnson retires.

Hauser most recently was group executive and chief financial officer of Duke Energy Corp. of Charlotte.

Hauser has been on FairPoint’s board since 2005.

FairPoint has operations in 18 states with about 1.9 million access lines. Its largest holdings are in northern New England, where last year it bought Verizon's wired telephone and Internet operations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont for $2.3 billion.