PCCA Journal 4th Quarter 2013 - page 36

PCCA Journal|4
th
Quarter 2013
36
ers and ways competition leads to reduced prices, higher
broadband speeds, increased investment, and better customer
service,” Pickering said. “The second paper uses real-world ex-
amples to show how those competitive providers are empow-
ering tech-savvy small businesses to help grow the economy.” 
The report features case studies of business solutions from
broadband providers XO Communications, CBeyond, TW
Telecom, and EarthLink.
NewMap Identifies Communities
Targeted for CAF Support
T
he locations of the up to 600,000 homes and
businesses nationwide targeted to get broadband
access for the first time through the FCC’s Con-
nect America Fund (CAF) are now available on
an 
interactive map at
-
fund-phase-i-round-two.
In August, the FCC announced that provid-
ers in 44 states and Puerto Rico had requested
more than $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 com-
munities 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 Con-
nect America funding, rural counties in every
corner of the nation will get access to 
broad-
band for the first time.”
Broadband expansion in these locations is
the result of a second round of funding from
Phase I of CAF. The commission created the
fund to unleash the benefits of 21st century
broadband communications in communities
where there are insufficient market incentives
to expand broadband service absent a joint
public-private effort.
Phase I of CAF 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 mil-
lion in funding requested by carriers requests
that exceeded initial expectations.
The map complements other maps created
by the FCC’s geospatial team showing nation-
wide broadband availability, the first round
Telecom News
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