With FCC Support, Charter Commits $3.8 Billion for Rural Broadband Expansion

Charter offered some details about its $1.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) win. Perhaps the most interesting detail is that Charter plans to spend $5 billion in total on the RDOF rural broadband buildout, which means the company will be investing $3.8 billion of its own money on RDOF projects. It’s interesting news because it sheds light on what it took for any bidder to win in the RDOF auction, which awarded funding to bring broadband to unserved rural areas to the lowest bidder, with a weighting system designed to favor bids to deliver higher-speed, lower-latency service. Charter was the biggest winner in the auction, measured by number of locations to be served. The company plans to make service at speeds up to 1 Gbps available to one million locations in parts of 24 states. Charter announced it plans hire more than 2,000 employees and contractors to support the RDOF and future rural buildout initiatives. The company notes the RDOF program alone will drive a 15% increase in Charter’s network mileage coverage.