FCC Estimates State-by-State Impact of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced initial estimates of how many homes and businesses in each state could benefit from Phase I of the $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. In total, about 6 million rural homes and businesses could be eligible for bidding in an auction slated for later in 2020 to receive funding for high-speed broadband. This state-by-state list is for Phase I funding, which would target a total of $16 billion to census blocks with no broadband service at all meeting the FCC’s minimum speed standards. The remainder of the funding would be disbursed during Phase II. As recently announced, the FCC will vote Jan 30 on launching the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.