WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Frontier Communications (NASDAQ:FTR) continues its rural broadband surge, exceeding 2017 milestone requirements of the Connect America Fund program (CAF) in eight additional states. Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin join the list of states where Frontier is ahead of pace in deploying rural broadband. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) program rules associated with CAF require companies that accepted the funds to deploy broadband to 40 percent of the eligible locations by the end of 2017. The newly announced states join Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington and West Virginia as having reached the 40 percent milestone.

Nationally, Frontier now provides broadband to over approximately 331,000 and small businesses in its CAF-eligible areas, and has improved speeds to over approximately 875,000 additional homes and businesses. The deployments reflect a combination of Frontier capital investment and resources that the FCC has made available through the CAF program. The company is aggressively marketing broadband offerings to households with new access or improved speeds. Many of the locations newly served are capable of receiving speeds of 25 Mbps and faster.

“We are piling up broadband milestones as we make a strong broadband deployment push to close out 2017," said Mark D. Nielsen, Frontier Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. "The combination of CAF and Frontier's investments have enabled new broadband connections that are vital to closing the digital divide. Every day we see our customers benefiting from the significant economic and educational benefits of broadband connectivity."

Through its partnership with the FCC, Frontier will turn $332M in annual funding into broadband availability for 774,000 households and business of at least 10 Mbps over the life of the program.

About Frontier Communications

Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) is a leader in providing communications services to urban, suburban, and rural communities in 29 states. Frontier offers a variety of services to residential customers over its fiber-optic and copper networks, including video, high-speed internet, advanced voice, and Frontier Secure^® digital protection solutions. Frontier Business offers communications solutions to small, medium, and enterprise businesses. More information about Frontier is available at www.frontier.com.

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