Media Contact: Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253 mark.wigfield@fcc.gov For Immediate Release AT&T Accepts Nearly $428 Million in Annual Support from Connect America Fund to Expand and Support Broadband for Over 2.2 Million Rural Consumers in 18 States -- WASHINGTON, August 27, 2015 – AT&T, Inc. has accepted $427,706,650 in annual, ongoing support from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for over 2.2 million of its rural customers. The Connect America Fund support will enable AT&T to deliver broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to over 1.1 million homes and businesses in its rural service areas where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive. “AT&T’s acceptance of close to one-half billion dollars annually from the Connect America Fund represents a huge investment in broadband for its rural customers,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “This is one of the largest amounts accepted by any company. The financial support provided by American ratepayers will bring significant benefits to AT&T’s rural communities, and we urge state and local leaders to help communities realize these benefits by facilitating the broadband buildout.” Below is the amount of annual support provided by the offer and number of homes and businesses served by state: State Total Homes and Businesses Reached Amount of Support (in dollars) AT&T Total 1,117,806 $427,706,650 AL 66,766 $23,161,780 AR 51,792 $21,350,835 CA 141,540 $60,240,434 FL 25,473 $8,485,813 GA 67,402 $25,345,199 IL 19,077 $8,932,507 IN 45,136 $17,576,788 KS 35,375 $18,942,367 KY 84,333 $30,962,548 LA 74,978 $27,907,591 MI 86,635 $29,750,677 MS 133,981 $49,772,592 NC 13,139 $3,498,889 OH 37,603 $14,802,500 SC 30,458 $9,689,453 TN 81,173 $26,137,862 TX 98,432 $42,078,424 WI 24,513 $9,070,392 Like telephone service in the 20th Century, broadband has become essential to life in the 21st Century. But, according to the FCC’s latest Broadband Progress Report, nearly one in three rural Americans lack access to 10/1 broadband, compared to only one in 100 urban Americans. The Connect America Fund is designed to close that rural-urban digital divide. The FCC’s traditional universal service program succeeded in ensuring telephone network coverage in rural America by providing subsidies where the cost of service would otherwise be prohibitive. In late 2011, the FCC modernized the program to support networks capable of providing broadband and voice services, and created the Connect America Fund to efficiently and effectively administer that support to expand broadband in rural areas where market forces alone can’t support expansion. Over the next six years, Phase II of Connect America will provide more than $9 billion to expand broadband-capable networks throughout rural America nationwide, all without increasing the cost of the program to ratepayers. Overall, the FCC’s Universal Service Fund allocates $4.5 billion annually through various universal service programs for high-cost areas to support voice- and broadband-capable networks in rural America. Carriers receiving Connect America Fund support must build out broadband to 40 percent of funded locations by the end 2017, 60 percent by the end of 2018, 80 percent by the end of 2019, and 100 percent by the end of 2020. ### Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 TTY: (888) 835-5322 Twitter: @FCC www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations 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. Cir. 1974). \