CenturyLink, Inc. will bring high-speed Internet services to more than 129,000 rural households and businesses in Wisconsin by accepting the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund statewide offer in Wisconsin. 

CenturyLink is accepting 33 CAF phase II statewide offers from the FCC to bring Internet service with speeds of at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload to approximately 1.2 million locations in FCC-designated, high-cost census blocks. The company is accepting a total of approximately $500 million a year for six years.

High-speed Internet access brings many benefits to rural communities, including economic development and better access to education and healthcare services such as distance learning and telemedicine.

“While CAF II funding does not address all markets in our footprint, our company investment for CAF II is significant, and we look forward to working closely with Wisconsin policymakers to find funding and deployment solutions for additional markets,” said Duane Ring, CenturyLink senior vice president of global field operations.

Once CenturyLink’s initial CAF II six-year build-out plan is finalized over the coming months, construction is expected to begin in early 2016.