Frontier Communications recently announced that it will be making broadband available to thousands of additional households in Texas, Indiana, and Illinois utilizing tax dollars from the FCC Connect America Fund.
Frontier Communications recently announced that it has made enhanced broadband service available to an additional:
- 25,000 households in Texas.
- 8,800 households in Indiana.
- 7,000 households in Illinois.
“Through ongoing network investments, Frontier is providing broadband and faster speeds to residents in our service areas,” Pedro Correa, Frontier Senior Vice President, Operations said. “We have been aggressively deploying and upgrading our broadband service and look forward to serving more residents.”
Connect America Fund
The Connect America Fund provides subsidies for Internet Service Providers to bring broadband Internet to locations where it is not yet available. The above numbers include 14,000 households in the Connect America Fund eligible census blocks, as well as approximately 27,000 additional households in Texas, Indiana, and Illinois.
CAF Subsidies
All-in-all, Frontier Communications will receive around $300,000,000 a year for the next few years for upgrading and expanding the company’s broadband network to another 660,000 locations across the United States. Frontier will be getting $16,000,000 annually to upgrade and expand unserved locations in Texas, $22,000,000 for expansion Indiana, and $31,000,000 for Illinois. Frontier recently purchased the territory in Texas from Verizon.
Frontier Communications
Frontier Communications began life as Citizens Utilities Company in 1935, providing gas and electric to places as far away as Hawaii. It sold off its interests in utilities other than communications in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Frontier offers mostly low-bandwidth internet service and service bundles with Frontier TV and home phone options.
“Broadband connectivity is critical today, especially in more rural areas,” said Correa. “Through investment and ongoing enhancements, Frontier is helping to close America’s digital divide.”
National Broadband Plan
As part of Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, the Connect America Fund offers funding that “sets out a road map for initiatives to stimulate economic growth, spur job creation and boost America's capabilities in education, health care, homeland security and more.” The Connect America Fund was established by the FCC in 2011 to facilitate broadband deployment to the millions of Americans living in rural areas without access to broadband infrastructure. It was part of the bailout in 2009 called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The National Broadband Plan funding, plus investments by Frontier are enabling broadband access to previously unserved households. One of the goals of the National Broadband Plan is that “Every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe to if they choose.”
The FCC has offered over $10,000,000 in subsidies to the nations' largest telephone companies to provide broadband service to more than 4,000,000 unserved homes and businesses and another $10,000,000 in subsidies to over 700 small rural telephone companies in a bid to improve their broadband infrastructure.
Having broadband Internet available to all businesses and consumers will allow them to stay connected while taking full advantage of healthcare, online education, and even entertainment options.
- By Wayne Porter