Media Contact:
Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253
mark.wigfield@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
CenturyLink Accepts Nearly $506 Million in Annual Support from Connect
America Fund to Expand and Support Broadband for Over 2.3 Million Consumers
in 33 States
--
WASHINGTON, August 27, 2015 - CenturyLink, Inc. has accepted $505,703,762 in annual,
ongoing support from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for over 2.3
million of its rural customers.
The Connect America Fund support will enable CenturyLink to deliver broadband at speeds of at
least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to nearly 1.2 million homes and businesses in
its rural service areas where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive.
CenturyLink's acceptance of over one-half billion dollars from the Connect America Fund
represents a huge investment in broadband for its rural customers, said FCC Chairman Tom
Wheeler. This is the largest amount accepted by any company to date - and the opportunities
that modern broadband will provide for the rural communities CenturyLink serves are priceless.
Below is the amount of annual support provided by the offer and number of homes and
businesses served by state:
Number of homes and
Amount of Support
State
businesses reached
by State (in dollars)
CenturyLink Total
1,174,142
$505,702,762
AL
48,865
$17,290,009
AR
45,708
$19,761,508
AZ
23,758
$10,089,092
CO
53,139
$26,509,143
FL
32,273
$10,916,671
GA
777
$269,719
IA
34,827
$17,893,887
ID
12,367
$6,279,869
IL
3,651
$2,093,982
IN
30,052
$10,736,352
KS
29,018
$16,501,327
LA
24,324
$9,471,015
MI
25,230
$9,028,031
MN
114,739
$54,035,150
MO
158,311
$77,850,608
MT
33,638
$15,195,628
NC
36,159
$10,008,390
ND
8,044
$5,656,741
NE
10,899
$6,888,416
NJ
1,881
$450,340
NM
25,308
$10,942,747
NV
2,265
$1,072,346
OH
47,707
$15,982,805
OR
41,785
$17,759,903
PA
30,297
$10,562,353
SC
8,551
$2,952,228
SD
15,071
$9,117,215
TN
5,791
$1,662,828
TX
27,184
$11,300,418
UT
4,366
$1,894,801
VA
49,993
$15,731,765
WA
58,961
$24,412,884
WI
129,203
$55,384,589
Like telephone service in the 20th Century, broadband has become essential to life in the 21st
Century. But, according to the FCC's latest Broadband Progress Report, nearly one in three rural
Americans lack access to 10/1 broadband, compared to only one in 100 urban Americans. The
Connect America Fund is designed to close that rural-urban digital divide.
The FCC's traditional universal service program succeeded in ensuring telephone network
coverage in rural America by providing subsidies where the cost of service would otherwise be
prohibitive. In late 2011, the FCC modernized the program to support networks capable of
providing broadband and voice services, and created the Connect America Fund to efficiently and
effectively administer that support to expand broadband in rural areas where market forces alone
can't support expansion.
Over the next six years, Phase II of Connect America will provide more than $10 billion to
expand broadband-capable networks throughout rural America nationwide, all without increasing
the cost of the program to ratepayers. Overall, the FCC's Universal Service Fund allocates $4.5
billion annually through various universal service programs for high-cost areas to support voice-
and broadband-capable networks in rural America.
Carriers receiving Connect America Fund support must build out broadband to 40 percent of
funded locations by the end 2017, 60 percent by the end of 2018, 80 percent by the end of 2019,
and 100 percent by the end of 2020.
###
Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @FCC
www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
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