Quarter-billion-dollar investment is coming from FCC’s Connect America Fund
WASHINGTON – Frontier Communications has announced the receipt of $238 million from the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund to expand broadband Internet access to 1.3 million rural Americans across 28 states.
Dan McCarthy, Frontier president and CEO, said the company, which was founded in 1935, is “a broadband company focused on delivering the life-changing benefits of broadband across our entire service area. CAF Phase II is a critical next step in delivering broadband service – and the major economic benefits associated with it – to rural America.”
He continued: “We have reviewed the FCC’s CAF Phase II rules and offers and look forward to partnering with the FCC to achieve our common goal of increased broadband access for rural America. We have decided to accept the CAF Phase II funding more than two months before the formal Aug. 27 deadline because we are eager to start building the infrastructure necessary to provide service to these markets as soon as possible.”
The FCC established the CAF in 2011 in order to help subsidize the construction of expensive broadband infrastructure in areas of the U.S with low population density.
Connect America is a public-private partnership, which couples government subsidies with private know-how to incentivize telecom companies to expand into rural service areas.
The FCC has attached several metrics to CAF subsidies; for instance, all broadband connections for Phase II must be at least 10 Mbps and build-out metrics must be reached in a set time frame.
Since the inception of the CAF, it has invested $348 million to extend service to 1.7 million people in 45 states and Puerto Rico, according to the FCC. The regulatory agency intends to spend $10 billion over the next six years to continue to make broadband coverage in the U.S. near universal.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said of the CAF, “This is a major step forward in the FCC’s efforts to ensure that all Americans have access to modern broadband and the opportunities it provides, no matter where they live.”
