Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction Ends but Confusion and Corruption May Just Be Beginning

The Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction results are a puzzle. The auction resulted in far more gigabit networks -- 85% of locations -- than anyone expected, at far lower subsidy than expected. However, there is a lot of frustration and confusion because it is not clear that some of the top bidders can deliver. NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association shared my original enthusiasm for RDOF and our concerns -- best articulated over the years by Jon Chambers from Conexon -- that the FCC was going to blow this auction by not ensuring those who bid had the capacity to deliver on the promised level of service. Doug Dawson, President of CCG Consulting, has addressed this in the greatest detail so far, arguing that this “means the FCC believes that fixed wireless technology is the functional equivalent of fiber” even though the underlying point-to-multipoint architecture “can’t be used to deliver giant bandwidth to more than a few customers -- and it’s not really designed to deliver gigabit download, and certainly not a symmetrical gigabit.” The result? “By allowing WISPS to claim gigabit capabilities, the FCC cheated huge numbers of people out of getting fiber.”