AT&T and Verizon CAF Plans for Rural Broadband Heading in Two Different Directions

AT&T and Verizon Connect America Fund plans were revealed, and it appears they have differing views on their rural broadband future. AT&T joins the list of telecommunication companies that have opted to accept most of the Connect America funding they were offered by the Federal Communications Commission earlier in 2015. The company said that it will take $427,706,650 annually to help cover the cost of deploying broadband to unserved areas in 18 of the 21 states for which the company was offered funding. That represents the majority of the nearly $494 million that the company was offered. Funding will last for six years and a spokesman said it will help bring service to more than 1.1 million locations. The three states for which the company is declining funding are Missouri, Nevada and Oklahoma.

It’s a different story at Verizon, which is not accepting funding for the states that will remain in its service territory assuming its pending sale of lines in California and Texas to Frontier is completed. According to a letter to the FCC, Verizon essentially is accepting funding totaling $48.5 million on behalf of Frontier on the condition that the deal goes through. A Verizon spokesman declined to comment beyond what is written in the letter.