NEWS 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). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: September 5, 2013 Mark Wigfield, 202-418-0253 E-mail: Mark.Wigfield@fcc.gov NEW INTERACTIVE MAP IDENTIFIES COMMUNITIES TARGETED FOR BROADBAND EXPANSION UNDER SECOND ROUND OF CONNECT AMERICA FUND SUPPORT Washington, D.C. – The locations of the up to 600,000 homes and businesses nationwide targeted to get broadband access for the first time through the FCC’s Connect America Fund are now available on an interactive map at http://www.fcc.gov/maps/connect-america-fund-phase-i-round-two. Last month, the FCC announced that providers in 44 states and Puerto Rico had requested over $385 million from the Fund – which will be matched with hundreds of millions of their own dollars in many areas – to quickly expand broadband infrastructure to rural communities in every region of the nation. The new FCC map zeroes in on these locations down to the census block level and zooms out for a big-picture overview of this major broadband expansion at the county, state and national levels. “The FCC’s new map will provide welcome news to millions of rural Americans who have been waiting far too long for broadband access,” said Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. “Thanks to the latest round of Connect America funding, rural counties in every corner of the nation will get access to broadband for the first time.” Broadband expansion in these locations is the result of a second round of funding from Phase I of the Connect America Fund. The Commission created the Connect America Fund to unleash the benefits of 21 st century broadband communications in communities where there are insufficient market incentives to expand broadband service absent a joint public-private effort. Phase I of the Connect America Fund is designed to quickly expand broadband to unserved areas while broader structural reforms are being implemented. Building on lessons learned from the first round of Phase I funding, the second round will distribute up to $385 million in funding requested by carriers – requests that exceeded initial expectations. Key reforms allow Connect America to expand support to both broadband and voice without increasing universal service fees on consumers and businesses. These reforms include barring subsidies in areas that already have broadband provided by an unsubsidized competitor. The map released today facilitates identification of these areas, where competitors may wish to file challenges to requested Phase I subsidies. As a result of this challenge process, the locations currently depicted on the map could change. The map complements other maps created by the FCC’s geospatial team showing nationwide broadband availability, the first round of Connect America Phase I, mobile broadband expansions through the FCC’s $300 million Mobility Fund auction, areas eligible for the Tribal Mobility Fund, and more. The maps are available at http://www.fcc.gov/maps. A spreadsheet of Connect America Phase I Second Round funding by state and company is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-322939A1.xlsx. A Public Notice with a link to the complete dataset upon which the new map is based is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-13-1832A1.doc -FCC-