RDOF winner coalition tells FCC to grant more funds and amnesty

A group known as the "coalition of RDOF winners" has weighed in on whether the Federal Communications Commission should grant an amnesty period for providers to relinquish their locations awarded through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) in the interest of making those locations available for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program instead. Essentially, the coalition expressed support for the idea but is also pushing for more RDOF funding. The coalition first filed an emergency petition with the FCC in 2023, requesting supplemental funding and additional concessions to address what it called "unprecedented" cost increases associated with RDOF builds. This latest filing from the RDOF coalition comes in response to an FCC request for comment on a proposal to allow winners a short period of time to relinquish their awarded RDOF and Connect America Fund II (CAF II) locations in order to make more locations available for the much larger BEAD program.