Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Despite years of effort and tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, the United States still faces a stubborn rural-urban broadband gap. A large, one-time injection of federal capital can succeed in bridging the rural broadband divide if it is reasonably targeted and allocated through a reverse-auction program that serves as a transition away from the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund. The current FCC program is funded through regressive fees levied on a shrinking base of telecommunications services.

Two state associations representing broadband providers have asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the long-form application filed by LTD Broadband in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. LTD Broadband had the largest amount of RDOF winning bids in the program and stands to gain $1.3 billion for broadband deployments in 15 states if its long-form application is approved.

Representatives from broadband provider Nextlink met with Federal Communications Commission officials in response to a range of criticism the company has received regarding its provisional win in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. The company was one of the biggest winners in the auction and will receive $429 million for rural broadband buildouts in seven states if the FCC approves its long-form RDOF application. Nextlink has come under fire from critics who argue that the company plans to use unproven fixed wireless technology to provide gigabit speeds.

On March 2, 2021, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel for a detailed status of funds report for all Universal Service Fund (USF) accounts, including but not limited to the Connect America Fund (CAF), Lifeline Program for Low-Income Consumers, E-Rate - Schools & Libraries Program, and the Rural Health Care Program.

A group of Senators recently sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking to raise the definition of broadband to 100/100 Mbps. This speed has been discussed for several years as the logical step forward from the current 25/3 Mbps speed set by the FCC in 2015. It’s clear to everyone in the industry that homes are using a lot more broadband than they did in 2015 – with the biggest change being simultaneous uses of multiple broadband streams in the typical home. The change in broadband definition would trigger the following:

The average Charter Communications broadband-only customer is now using 700 gigabytes of data per month, according to Christopher Winfrey, the cable operator’s CFO. Winfrey said the high level of wireline broadband usage is the No. 1 reason wireless companies won’t be able to pry broadband marketshare from cable with fixed wireless products. “The average wireless customers uses only 10 gigs a month,” Winfrey said. “The difference in utilization rates is significant.

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced the Rural Broadband Window of Opportunity Act to level the playing field for broadband expansion in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Specifically, the bill would require the Federal Communications Commission to prioritize the processing of broadband expansion applications located in areas with shorter build seasons.

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on multiple petitions for designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) for the purpose of becoming eligible to receive universal service support. The petitioners are winning bidders, or those assigned support through the division of winning bids, in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction (Auction 904). ETC designation is a prerequisite to receiving universal service support available through the high-cost and Lifeline programs.

You might think Washington state director of broadband Russ Elliott would be pleased about private companies winning $223 million in federal subsidies to expand broadband in rural WA. Instead, Elliott is frustrated. He’s under direction from WA’s Legislature to bring the entire state up to superfast internet speeds by 2028. Yet in Dec, the federal government announced plans to award hundreds of millions of dollars to companies Elliott is afraid won't meet the state’s standards. For Elliott, the awards to private-sector companies such as SpaceX and CenturyLink pose another problem as well.

Windstream is looking to leverage funds from two Federal Communications Commission programs as it expands broadband Internet and related services to new markets and customers. Kinetic, Windstream’s community broadband business, announced that it plans to participate in the FCC’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program. “As soon as the FCC is ready to take this program live, we are ready to implement it so any e