The Connect America Fund part of the FCC’s initiative to bring broadband access to rural communities in 41 states has authorized $255,723,850 so that five carriers will be able to use the funds in rural portions of their services areas. The five carriers are AT&T, CenturyLink, Fairpoint Communications, Frontier Communications, and Windstream Corp.
“Access to modern broadband networks is essential in the information age,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “Yet 15 million Americans live in areas where they can’t get wireline broadband no matter how much they want it. These funds will jump-start broadband access in areas that would otherwise be bypassed by the digital economy.”
The five states to receive the highest funding include Georgia ($16,854,525), Mississippi ($16,170,825), Tennessee ($26,243,700), Texas ($16,107,225), and West Virginia ($22,333,425).
In August, the five carriers identified 563,767 locations where they want to use Connect America funds to reach customers unserved by broadband. The eligibility of some of these locations was challenged. However, on December 5th, the authorization included funding for 393,409 locations that were not subject to a challenge.