FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASH IN GTON 
OFF I CE OF 
THE C H AIRMAN 
The Honorable Vicky Hartzler 
U.S. House ofRepresentatives 
1 023 Longworth House Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20515 
Dear Congresswoman Hartzler: 
August 28, 20 14 
Thank you for your letter regarding the implementation of certain aspects of Phase II of 
the Connect America Fund (CAF II). In your letter, you express concerns that the overall 
mission ofthe CAF II program could be endangered ifthe Commission increases the current 
broadband speed benchmark for program recipients to 10 Mbps downstream 11 Mbps upstream 
without allowing flexibility in other elements of the program, and suggest several proposals to 
provide such flexibility. Your views are very important and will be included in the record of the 
proceeding and considered as part of the Commission's review. 
I agree with you that high-speed broadband access is an essential component for 
economic growth in rural communities. The universal service program is one of the most 
important tools at our disposal to ensure that consumers and businesses in rural America have the 
same opportunities as their urban and suburban counterparts to be active participants in the 
United States ofthe 21st century . We are focused on updating the universal service high-cost 
program to ensure that we are delivering the best possible voice and broadband experiences to 
rural America within the confmes of our Connect America budget, while providing increased 
certainty and predictability for all carriers and a climate for increased broadband expansion. 
In April, the Commission voted to move forward with Phase II of the Connect America 
Fund for price-cap carriers. Among other things, the Connect America Fund Phase II Report & 
Order sets a term of 10 years for support awarded through the competitive bidding process to 
stimulate greater interest from participants and ensure that funding is targeted efficiently to 
expand broadband-capable infrastructure throughout the country. In addition, in the associated 
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the Commission sought comment on a 
number of the issues you raise, including revising the current broadband performance obligations 
to require minimum speeds of 10 Mbps downstream, and applying the same performance 
obligations to all recipients of Phase II support and to rate-of-return carriers. The FNPRM also 
seeks comment on a proposal to allow recipients more flexibility as to other components of the 
program, such as the ability to substitute locations in partially-served census blocks for locations 
in the unserved census block for which it received support. 
We expect a robust record on these topics and I welcome a dialogue with stakeholders as 
to how best to accomplish our shared objectives. I look forward to working with you as we 
continue reforming and modernizing the universal service fund high-cost program- as well as 
Page 2-The Honorable Vicky Hartzler 
other components of the Fund- to ensure that all Americans have access to robust voice and 
broadband services. 
I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know ifl can be of any further 
assistance. 
Sincerely, 
Tom Wheeler