CenturyLink Accepts $506 M from Connect America for Rural Broadband

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).

LINK:	http://www.fcc.gov/document/centurylink-accepts-506-m-connect-america-...
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