Light Reading

While the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's notice of funding opportunity prioritizes fiber builds for those applying for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants, a "high-cost threshold" exception has been a point of concern for fiber advocates like the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) CEO Gary Bolton. That threshold is a cost, to be set by the states, at which they may choose not to prioritize end-to-end fiber deployment. FBA is trying to make sure the states and territories writing up their funding plans keep that threshold as high as pos

LTD Broadband, the top bidder in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) that can't seem to hold on to its funding, may see its dollars revoked in yet another state. This time the company is being challenged in Minnesota, where the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in that state has ordered an investigation to determine if the company can deliver on the $311 million it was designated by the Federal Communications Commission to build out in the state's rural areas.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel shared an update on July 1 announcing the FCC had opened its new system to collect information on where 2,500 broadband providers deliver service. Providers have until September 1 to submit data. The new federal broadband data is supposed to make up for the Form 477 flaw, or the fact that the FCC has historically relied on coverage data per census block, as submitted by internet service providers.