Media Contact: 
Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253
mark.wigfield@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

STATEMENT ON WINDSTREAM CHAPTER 11 FILING
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WASHINGTON, February 25, 2019—Kris Monteith, Chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, issued the following statement regarding today’s filing of petitions by Windstream Holdings, Inc., for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York:

“The promise of the Communications Act and the Commission’s Universal Service Fund is that all Americans deserve a reliable communications network.  I am therefore pleased that Windstream has made clear that its reorganization in bankruptcy will not disrupt service to any consumers.  Nonetheless, we must be vigilant in light of these events to ensure that the lifesaving 911 service and the voice and broadband connections that Windstream’s customers rely upon remain—and that the federal funds that Windstream receives through the Connect America Fund and other universal service programs are put to their appropriate use to connect rural and low-income Americans with high-speed broadband.”


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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).