Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FTR) says it is accelerating plans to deploy broadband services to its rural subscribers thanks to the acceptance of $71.9 million from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Connect America Fund (CAF).
The FCC established the CAF to accelerate broadband build-out to the 18 million Americans living in rural areas who currently have no access to robust broadband infrastructure (see “FCC Chairman Genachowski unwraps USF overhaul plans”).
By accepting this funding, Frontier has pledged to provide broadband service to an additional 92,876 households covering more than half of the 27 states it serves, ensuring rural customers in states such as Michigan, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia have access to broadband connectivity.
“The FCC’s Connect America Fund offers Frontier additional resources to drive broadband penetration to rural markets that are hungry for access,” said Kathleen Quinn Abernathy, executive vice president of external affairs for Frontier Communications.
“The CAF program directly supports broadband infrastructure, a critical first step to offering services to the high-cost, rural parts of our nation. This support will supplement the more than $1.5 billion of private investment made by Frontier over the last two years to deploy an advanced communications network to rural America,” Abernathy added.
Nationally, Frontier provides broadband to nearly 80% of households within its territories. Frontier says it will continue to focus on broadband expansion while boosting broadband speeds throughout its network.