CenturyLink announced recently that it will bring high-speed Internet services to more than 8,000 rural households and businesses in South Carolina by accepting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Connect America Fund (CAF) statewide offer in South Carolina.

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.

“We’re pleased to help bridge the urban-rural digital divide by bringing high-speed broadband to more than 8,000 households and businesses in high-cost markets in South Carolina,” said Kevin McCarter, CenturyLink east region president. “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 South Carolina policymakers to find funding and deployment solutions for additional markets.”

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.

<em>CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) is a global communications, hosting, cloud and IT services company enabling millions of customers to transform their businesses and their lives through innovative technology solutions. CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, big data analytics and IT consulting, and operates more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The company provides broadband, voice, video, data and managed services over a robust 250,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-route-mile international transport network. Visit CenturyLink.com for more information.</em>