MIDDLETOWN, R.I., July 16, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Towerstream Corporation (Nasdaq:TWER), a leading 4G and Small Cell Rooftop Tower company, commented on the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") approval of a plan to spend $2 billion over the next two years to modernize its Schools and Libraries program, commonly known as E-Rate.
On July 11, 2014, the FCC approved a plan to modernize its 18-year-old E-Rate federal subsidy program, which helps schools and libraries pay for telecommunications equipment and services. The E-Rate program was created in 1996 and has a $2.6 billion annual budget. The modernization program provides $1 billion of additional funding for wireless technologies in each of the next two fiscal years. These funds will be directed towards Wi-Fi and VoiP as traditional phone lines and pagers are phased out.
"We applaud the FCC's decision to accelerate the deployment of Wi-Fi in our schools and libraries as it represents the most expedient and cost effective method of delivering internet connectivity," stated Jeffrey Thompson, President and CEO. "We have a diverse base of education related customers who rely on our ability to deliver wireless broadband connectivity quickly and at affordable prices, and look forward to the opportunity to grow that customer base further."
Towerstream currently has more than 50 education related deployments with K-12, college, university and library institutions in major cities including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many of these customers receive funding support under the E-Rate program.
For educational institutions interested in learning more, please contact our Vice President of Sales, Matt Tooker at mtooker@towerstream.com.
About Towerstream Corporation
Towerstream (Nasdaq:TWER) is a leading 4G and Small Cell Rooftop Tower company. The company owns, operates, and leases Wi-Fi and Small Cell rooftop tower locations to cellular phone operators, tower, Internet and cable companies and hosts a variety of customers on its network. Towerstream was originally founded in 2000 to deliver fixed-wireless high-speed Internet access to businesses and to date offers broadband services in 12 urban markets including New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay area, Miami, Seattle, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas-Reno, and the greater Providence area. For more information on Towerstream services, please visit www.towerstream.com and/or follow us @Towerstream.
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About HetNets Tower Corporation
HetNets Tower Corporation ("HetNets") was formed in January 2013 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Towerstream Corporation (Nasdaq:TWER), and offers a neutral host, shared wireless infrastructure solution, either independently or as a turnkey service. Its wireless communications infrastructure is available to wireless carriers, cable and Internet companies in major urban markets where the explosion in mobile data is creating significant demand for additional capacity and coverage. HetNets offers a carrier-class Wi-Fi network for Internet access and the offloading of mobile data. Its street level rooftop locations are ideal for the installation of customer owned small cells including DAS, Metro and Pico cells. Other solutions provided by HetNets include backhaul, power, and related small cell requirements. More information is available at http://www.hetnets.com.
Safe Harbor
Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable federal securities laws, including, without limitation, anything relating or referring to future financial results and plans for future business development activities, and are thus prospective. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified based on current expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, risk related to our ability to deploy and expand small cell rooftop tower locations in the New York City and other key markets. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Consequently, future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.