Ask and ye shall receive. Windstream has confirmed to Broadband Reports that the company has raised the upstream speed of their DSL tiers. Windstream says they're responding to a request in our forums by users who found 386 kbps to be a little dated for 2009. Both the company's 3 Mbps and 6 Mbps tiers have seen the upstream side of the equation nudged from 384 kbps to 768 kbps -- at no additional price. The upgrades apparently started in early November and will be ongoing through December -- so if you haven't seen them yet, Broadband Reports readers can apparently nudge Windstream to get the upgrade now.

Windstream Communications has announced that the company will be buying Greenville, South Carolina CLEC NuVox Communications (see our user reviews) for a cool $643 million. Like most CLECs, NuVox has found its niche primarily as a small business operator, offering service to approximately 90,000 business customers. According to a Windstream statement, NuVox has about 1,700 employees, and services 48 locations in 16 contiguous Southeastern and Midwestern states. Though Windstream recently announced layoffs, they're apparently eager for expansion all the same -- and are also rumored to be at least somewhat interested in whether they could pick up bankrupt operator Fairpoint's network on the cheap.

One person's collapsing telecom empire is another person's expansion opportunity. According to the New York Post, some "big name players" are watching Fairpoint Communication's flirtations with bankruptcy with great interest. Citing a "source with direct knowledge of the process," the Post says Windstream Communications may be buying up debt with an eye on acquiring the company's assets. Fairpoint CEO David Hauser last week talked rather casually about the very real possibility for a Fairpoint bankruptcy, after the company continues to struggle with the debt acquired from Verizon. Windstream meanwhile announced last week they'd be laying off 3% of their workforce to offset continued landline losses.

According to an announcement by DSL provider Windstream Communications (see our user reviews here), the company will be laying off roughly 5% of their workforce (350 out of 7,100 jobs) in order to "offset revenue pressure in the residential voice business." In other words Windstream, like larger telco Verizon, is making cuts to help counter the continuing death of the copper landline. The company, originally spun off from Alltel Communications (now part of Verizon), passed the one million broadband subscriber mark last Spring.

Following the moves of companies such as Qwest and Comcast, Windstream this week has launched a price for life promotion that locks down your monthly rate if you bundle at least two services (bundles start at $49.99). Windstream tells us the deal doesn't require a long-term contract. As we discussed when Qwest launched such a promotion, such deals often aren't worth it to consumers. What seems like a good deal today quite often isn't a good deal down the road, and in many instances customers can get better rates by renegotiating their rates with their carrier. Being civil, but threatening to take your business elsewhere can usually net you more savings than these price for life promotions.