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FCC to expand broadband Internet service in rural areas

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously on Oct. 27 to approve a $4.5 billion subsidy to expand broadband Internet service to approximately 18 million people. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the program could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural areas.

The Connect America Fund will provide broadband service in an effort to modernize and streamline the Universal Service Fund (USF) a program that built telephone connections in rural, hard-to-reach areas.

“Over the next year, the Connect America Fund will bring broadband to more than 600,000 Americans who wouldn’t have it otherwise,” Genachowski said. “Over the following five years, millions more rural families will be connected. And today’s Order puts us on the path to get broadband to every American by the end of the decade – to close the broadband deployment gap which now stands at close to twenty million Americans.”



The FCC also voted to lower the rates that companies charge to connect calls through Intercarrier Compensation (ICC), or the charges that one carrier pays to another carrier.

Genachowski said the commission intends to extend the benefits of mobile broadband coverage to tens of thousands of underserved areas. He also said the reforms will directly assist farmers, who need broadband to access commodity pricing, crop information, real-time weather reports, and online auctions.



“New wired and wireless broadband will be a lifeline for rural communities currently being bypassed by the Internet revolution,” Genachowski said. “Young people who didn’t see a future in their small hometowns will now be able to access a new world of opportunity. Today’s action will empower small businesses that otherwise couldn’t exist in small-town America, and create new jobs in those communities.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously on Oct. 27 to approve a $4.5 billion subsidy to expand broadband Internet service to approximately 18 million people. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the program could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural areas.

The Connect America Fund will provide broadband service in an effort to modernize and streamline the Universal Service Fund (USF) a program that built telephone connections in rural, hard-to-reach areas.

“Over the next year, the Connect America Fund will bring broadband to more than 600,000 Americans who wouldn’t have it otherwise,” Genachowski said. “Over the following five years, millions more rural families will be connected. And today’s Order puts us on the path to get broadband to every American by the end of the decade – to close the broadband deployment gap which now stands at close to twenty million Americans.”

The FCC also voted to lower the rates that companies charge to connect calls through Intercarrier Compensation (ICC), or the charges that one carrier pays to another carrier.

Genachowski said the commission intends to extend the benefits of mobile broadband coverage to tens of thousands of underserved areas. He also said the reforms will directly assist farmers, who need broadband to access commodity pricing, crop information, real-time weather reports, and online auctions.

“New wired and wireless broadband will be a lifeline for rural communities currently being bypassed by the Internet revolution,” Genachowski said. “Young people who didn’t see a future in their small hometowns will now be able to access a new world of opportunity. Today’s action will empower small businesses that otherwise couldn’t exist in small-town America, and create new jobs in those communities.”