US cable operator Charter Communications plans to invest about USD 5 billion to bring gigabit broadband speeds to over 1 million new customer locations. The amount includes USD 1.2 billion awarded the company by the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction. The connections will go mainly to rural communications that do not have access to broadband at the FCC's recommended minimum speed of 25/3 Mbps.
Charter said the multi-year initiative will provide up to 1 Gbps access, with starting speeds of 200 Mbps to enable remote learning and work, telemedicine and other applications needing high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity. The new customer locations will also benefit from Charter's Spectrum pricing and packaging structure, including its Spectrum Mobile, Spectrum TV and Spectrum Voice offerings. The company continue to apply its usual policies in the newly served regions, including no data caps, modem fees or annual contracts.
Charter expects to hire more than 2,000 employees and contractors to support the RDOF and future rural buildout initiatives. Services will be launched across 24 states as estimated by the FCC, including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
