Infrastructure

After deciding to shut New York and Alaska out of the new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has made another change that could reduce or eliminate funding available for broadband providers in other US states.

On Dec 9, 48 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to say that, as the FCC considers new rules in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it should emphasize the importance of sustainable networks that meet the needs of consumers now and in the future.

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition released its 2020 Policy Roadmap, outlining the path forward for community anchor institution (CAI) broadband. Schools, libraries, healthcare providers, and other CAIs rely on high-quality broadband to provide essential services to their communities. It is imperative that policymakers, industry, and anchor institutions collaborate to connect all CAIs to affordable, gigabit broadband – a key step in closing the digital divide. The SHLB Coalition will pursue the following policy priorities in 2020:

In his dissenting statement, Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks objected to a sentence included since the initial draft of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Order. The Starks dissent states: “The version of the Order now before us excludes from RDOF any area that the Commission ‘know[s] to be awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program or other similar federal or state broadband subsidy programs, or those subject to enforceable broadband deployment obligations.’” (emphasis in original)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $9.87 million investment in four infrastructure projects that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 4,527 households and 215 businesses in rural Maine. USDA announced the following projects:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $1.6 million in a high-speed broadband infrastructure project that will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for 1,492 rural households, 27 pre-subscribed businesses, six educational facilities, four pre-subscribed farms, three critical community facilities and a health care center. Wecom Inc.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $55.3 million in four, high-speed broadband infrastructure projects in rural Kentucky. These projects will create or improve rural e-Connectivity for more than 12,250 rural households and nearly 100 farms and businesses across Kentucky and northern Tennessee. USDA announced the following investments in rural Kentucky:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has invested $2.4 million in a high-speed broadband infrastructure project that will create or improve e-Connectivity for approximately 250 households and home-based businesses in rural Mason County (WA). Mason Public Utility District 3, based in Shelton (WA), will use a $2.4 million ReConnect Program grant to provide high-speed broadband to the unserved Grapeview community. The Three Fingers Rural Broadband Fiber Project will provide middle-mile and last-mile fiber-optic service to each premises located within the targeted area.

While the spirit of this effort is right on—we have a broadband problem—the way we go about addressing it is not right. 

The Federal Communications Commission took its single biggest step to date to close the digital divide by establishing the new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to efficiently fund the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in rural America. Through a two phase reverse auction mechanism, the FCC will direct up to $20.4 billion over ten years to finance up to gigabit speed broadband networks in unserved rural areas, connecting millions more American homes and businesses to digital opportunity.