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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  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.  Circ  1974).  FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT: 
 August  6,  2003  Michael  Balmoris  202-  418-  0253  Email:  michael.  balmoris@  fcc.  gov 
 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION  LOOKS  AT  DATA  ON  GROWTH  OF  BROADBAND  SUBSCRIBERSHIP  IN  RURAL  AREAS 
 Washington  D.  C.  –  The  Wireline  Competition  Bureau  (WCB)  of  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  today  summarized  results  of  its  twice-  yearly 
 collection  of  high-  speed  Internet  access  subscribership  data  for  a  sampling  of  rural  and  other  states.  The  presentation  included  high-  speed  subscribership  data  for  South  Dakota, 
 Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  Wisconsin,  Virginia  and  California.  For  example,  in  North  Carolina  –  the  state  with  the  second  largest  number  of  persons  living  in  rural  areas  –  the 
 estimated  percentage  of  occupied  housing  units  with  a  high-  speed  line  in  service  jumped  from  1%  to  17%  over  the  three  year  period  from  December  1999  to  December  2002.  The 
 national  average  was  2%  in  1999  and  16%  for  2002. 
 The  following  chart  provides  the  estimated  percentage  of  occupied  housing  units  with  a  high-  speed  line  in  service  for  sample  states  (see  attached  chart  for  list  of  all  states): 


 December  1999  December  2002  South  Dakota  0%  6% 
 Kentucky  1%  5%  North  Carolina  1%  17% 
 Wisconsin  0%  15%  Virginia  1%  15% 
 NATIONAL  AVERAGE  2%  16% 
 California  3%  22% 
 Statistics  presented  at  today’s  Open  Meeting  are  derived  from  the  FCC’s  local  competition  and  broadband  data  gathering  program,  which  requires  facilities-  based 
 providers  with  at  least  250  high-  speed  lines  in  service  in  a  state  to  report  twice  year  information  about  high-  speed  and  advanced  service  lines. 


 The  local  competition  and  broadband  gathering  program  has  been  in  place  since  March  2000  to  assist  the  FCC  in  its  efforts  to  monitor  and  further  implement  the  pro-competitive, 
 deregulatory  provisions  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996.  The  FCC  uses  data  from  this  effort  to  evaluate  the  deployment  of  advanced  telecommunications 
 capability. 
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