Here’s how NextLink—the biggest CAF II auction winner—is spending its $281 million

NextLink, the internet service provider owned by AMG Technology Investment Group LLC, was the biggest winner in the recent Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction. Specifically, NextLink will get around $281 million of the $1.5 billion that the Federal Communications Commission distributed to telecommunications companies around the country so they can deploy services to rural areas in order to cross the digital divide. What does NextLink plan to do with all that money? A lot of buying. NextLink plans to dramatically expand its current fixed wireless network into locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. The company is currently evaluating equipment from a wide range of vendors and expects to make a decision on its vendor partner or partners sometime in the next few months.