NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th 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). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: July 9, 2012 Neil Grace, 202-418-0506 Email: neil.grace@fcc.gov STATEMENT FROM FCC CHAIRMAN JULIUS GENACHOWSKI ON FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS’ CONNECT AMERICA FUND ANNOUNCEMENT “Last year, the Commission’s unanimous vote to create the Connect America Fund put the nation on the path to connect all Americans to high-speed Internet, without increasing overall funding. This is the most significant effort ever undertaken to connect rural America to broadband. For the first time, universal service funding will be targeted to unserved homes, businesses, and anchor institutions in rural areas, and companies will be held accountable for building out infrastructure. “Today’s announcement by Frontier Communications represents the beginning of that new deployment: approximately 200,000 unserved rural Americans will get broadband for the first time. In today’s economy, access to broadband means access to jobs and economic opportunity, in addition to better education and healthcare. I applaud Frontier Communications for stepping up to the plate with its commitment to accelerate broadband build-out by increasing private investment in rural communities, in partnership with the Connect America Fund.” -FCC-