Thirty Percent of Connect America Broadband Funding in Limbo

The fate of as much as 30 percent of money earmarked for five price cap carriers in the 2013 Connect America Fund program is in question, the Federal Communications revealed.

The FCC has authorized only $255.7 million of the requested funding -- enough to serve 393,409 homes. The FCC received challenges for approximately 30 percent of 563,767 homes originally targeted. Challenges came from competitors who said they already provide broadband to the targeted homes. An FCC spokesman confirmed that the challenges were still pending, which means some of the funding originally earmarked could eventually be released to the requesting carriers.