WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) released the following statement on a recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that will help increase the number of homes and businesses in rural Maine that receive high-speed broadband internet:

“I applaud the FCC’s decision to focus on bringing high-speed broadband access to new areas, thereby enhancing private investment and the goals of universal service in rural America,” Senator King said. “Maine's businesses and residents stand to benefit substantially from Charter's required rollout of 60 Mbps service to two million previously unserved locations across the country. This will help continue to position Maine to compete more in a globally-competitive economy and allow our state to attract new investment, new people, and more jobs.”

On Monday, the FCC announced that it has revised one of the conditions it applied to the merger of Charter Communications with Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (now branded as “Spectrum”). Instead of requiring the combined company to build high-speed 60 Mbps broadband to one million locations that lack broadband and one million locations that already have broadband (at 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed), the FCC is now requiring that all of the total two million locations be focused on areas that currently lack 25/3 Mbps service.

This change will increase the number of homes and businesses that receive access to high-speed broadband for the first time as a result of the merger conditions.

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