Cincinnati Bell Accepts $. M for Rural Broadband in Kentucky & Ohio

Media Contact:

Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253

mark.wigfield@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

Cincinnati Bell Accepts Over $2.2 Million in Annual Support from Connect America

Fund to Expand and Support Broadband for Over 14,000 Rural Consumers in

Kentucky and Ohio

--

WASHINGTON, August 27, 2015 - Cincinnati Bell has accepted $2,229,130 in annual, ongoing

support from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for over 14,000 of its

rural customers.

The Connect America Fund support will enable Cincinnati Bell to deliver broadband at speeds of

at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to over 7,000 homes and businesses in its

rural service areas where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive.

Cincinnati Bell's decision to accept support from the Connect America Fund will greatly benefit

its rural customers by expanding robust broadband in their communities, said FCC Chairman

Tom Wheeler. The Connect America Fund is delivering on its promise of ensuring that all

Americans have access to the opportunities provided by modern broadband service, no matter

where they live.

For illustrative purposes, the charts below show support by state and county where Cincinatti Bell

is anticipated to expand broadband deployment. Because carriers have some flexibility to shift

deployment among eligible areas in a state, actual county deployment may vary.

State

Cincinnati Bell Total

7,084

$2,229,130

KY

6,339

$2,034,186

OH

745

$194,944

.

Brown, OH

1

$396

Butler, OH

301

$83,236

Clermont, OH

34

$4,849

Hamilton, OH

36

$10,222

Preble, OH

1

$166

Warren, OH

2

$208

Dearborn, IN

171

$42,346

Franklin, IN

198

$52,867

Boone, KY

1

$654

Boone, KY

191

$61,248

Bracken, KY

4

$4,221

Campbell, KY

436

$98,662

Gallatin, KY

1,166

$358,714

Grant, KY

1,986

$617,299

Harrison, KY

48

$11,941

Kenton, KY

189

$33,529

Owen, KY

191

$73,107

Pendleton, KY

2,128

$775,464

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).

LINK:	http://www.fcc.gov/document/cincinnati-bell-accepts-22-m-rural-broadba...
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