Resound trades fiber for fixed wireless for a chunk of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund builds

After a year of trialing gigabit-class fixed wireless access technology from Tarana Wireless, Resound Networks has decided to deploy that service to around 12,000 locations it was originally planning to cover with fiber as part of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)-fueled expansion. Resound Networks was one of the top 10 winners in the RDOF auction, walking away with $310.7 million in government funding to cover around 219,000 unserved locations with broadband. While it was originally planning to service around 77,000 of those with fiber, CEO Tyson Curtis said the company now expects to use Tarana’s G1 fixed wireless solution instead for about 15% of those. That’ll allow it to move faster in providing connectivity to users who currently have few or no options and can’t participate in the digital economy today, he said. Though its RDOF funding has yet to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission, Curtis said it began construction on related projects in February 2021.