Windstream Communications Inc. announced it has accepted nearly $175 million in annual support for the next seven years from the Connect America Fund to expand and support broadband for more than 800,000 of its rural customers in 17 states. The funding includes more than $28.7 million annually to support broadband for nearly 45,000 Iowa residents. The Connect America Fund support will enable Windstream to deliver broadband at speeds of at least 10 Mbps for downloads and 1 Mbps uploads to homes and businesses in its rural service areas nationwide where the cost of broadband deployment might otherwise be prohibitive. The Connect America Fund, created in 2011 to facilitate broadband deployment in high-cost, rural areas, replaces the previous universal service program that helped expand telephone networks to high-cost, rural areas.