Are You Ready for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund?

Nothing in US history has exposed the rural digital divide as has the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many students in rural communities are being asked to participate in “distance learning” but are being left behind because their community’s infrastructure is insufficient. Adults, too, in rural communities are struggling with access to job listings and unemployment benefit applications as these services are frequently only available online. Without access to broadband, working from home is not an option, nor are the video chat services that many of us use to catch up with our friends and family. Prior to COVID-19, the Federal Communications Commission announced its next step to bridge the digital divide, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). With more competition and less predictability to factor into bid decisions, the caliber of the analysis on prospective markets – the demographics, the services, and the best technology to deploy -- is more critical than ever to the development of bids that will have a high probability of success and profitability. With focused decisions on fiber and fixed wireless architectures, supported by automated planning tools, you’ll be in a position to undertake in-depth, detailed comparative analysis of hundreds of markets and define your bid packages with greater precision and confidence.

[Raj Singh serves as CEO of VCTI, the broadband network services firm]