Chairman Pai's Response to Members of Congress Regarding the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

On Dec 9, 48 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to say that, as the FCC considers new rules in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it should emphasize the importance of sustainable networks that meet the needs of consumers now and in the future. On Dec 13, 54 reps also wrote to Chairman Pai, who agreed with the senators that any networks built through the universal service fund (USF) should be required to be capable of delivering speeds, latency, and usage capacity "according to what the FCC deems necessary to meet the needs of consumers over the next decade." Further, the Members of Congress said that in order to not waste USF resources, it is critical that any use of an auction to distribute USF support should include meaningful processes upfront to prequalify bidders. 

On Jan 21, 2020, Chairman Pai responded by explaining the final rules the FCC would vote on Jan 30 to establish the RDOF. He agreed with the lawmakers on the importance of funding sustainable networks. "[T]he draft rules that I have presented to my colleagues would make three key departures from the [Connect America Fund] Phase II auction so that the RDOF supports networks that will stand the test of time. First, it would more than double the minimum speeds that bidders must commit to provide. Second, it would modify the weights that apply to bids to favor faster, lower latency networks. And third, as soon as the total price of all bids in the auction falls below the auction’s budget, support would be awarded to the bidder with the highest-performing network in each area. In other words, the auction would support the best network possible in each area given the available budget."

Regarding prequalifying bidders, Chairman Pai wrote, "under the draft rules the FCC would thoroughly vet the technical and financial capabilities of applicants before allowing them to participate in the RDOF auction. And once winning bidders start deploying their networks, they would be subject to the same rigorous performance testing procedures that the FCC adopted in Oct for all carriers receiving support through the CAF. These requirements would ensure that carriers remain accountable to consumers, taxpayers, and the FCC."