The FCC released a map on Thursday showing where the $115
million in FCC Universal Service Fund/Connect America Fund broadband funding
was going in phase one of its migration of phone subsidies to fund rural
broadband rollouts, and Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Kentucky were among
the 13 states receiving no Connect America funding.
Wisconsin is getting the most of any state with over $38
million.
The other states not getting funding are Louisiana,
Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire and Rhode Island.
The funds have to be used to build out broadband to unserved
areas within three years.
"As our new map demonstrates, millions of Americans still
live, work, and travel in rural areas where access to high-speed Internet does
not exist," said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski in a statement.
"Through the FCC's Connect America Fund initiatives, we're helping
complete our nation's broadband infrastructure, which will lead to job
creation, economic growth, and innovation in the 21st century. The map is the
latest example of how the agency can use mapping technology to spur innovation
and to develop new products for the public."
The map provides a state-by-state breakdown of how much
support each is getting and how many counties and census blocks are being
served, and the state's total unserved population, defined as not getting at
least 3 Mbps downstream, 768 Kbps upstream, the FCC's current threshold
definition of high-speed broadband. The map does not include that unserved
total, or any other info, for any of the states not getting funds.
The FCC's goal for Connect America is to connect 7 million
unserved within six years.
Check the map out here.
