by Pivot
Tag: Connect America Fund
$240 Million in CAF II Funding Authorized, Total Program Funding for Rural Broadband Now Exceeds $1.4 Billion
The FCC today said it has authorized $240 million in Connect America CAF II funding for four more companies that won funding in the CAF II auction. Total CAF II funding authorized now exceeds $1.4…
New Rural Broadband Funding Programs Take Aim at the Digital Divide
The past couple of weeks have revealed details for important federal funding programs to support rural broadband. This is welcome news, considering the construction and operation of rural broadband networks is costly. If we’re ever…
Is Universal Service Fund in Peril? A Close Look at the Budget – and Where the Money Comes From
The percentage of end user phone bills that goes toward the Universal Service Fund has been climbing and there are serious questions about the sustainability of that funding mechanism, despite a relatively stable USF budget.…
$20.4 Billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Adopted, With a Few More Tweaks
The FCC today adopted rules for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which will use a reverse auction to award $20.4 billion in rural broadband funding to be distributed over 10 years. The final order…
Windstream Meets 2019 CAF II Milestones, On Track for 2020
Windstream said today that it has met the latest milestones for 2019 Connect America Fund II broadband deployment. The company also said that it expects to complete all its CAF II deployment by December 31,…
Getting to Know the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)
An historic rural broadband opportunity is unfolding in 2020. A new FCC initiative, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, or RDOF, aims to inject billions of dollars in funding to support the construction and operation of…
TGIF: USDA Will Begin Accepting Second Round $550M ReConnect Applications on Friday
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin accepting applications for the second round of the USDA ReConnect Program beginning on Friday, Jan. 31. This round, which will total $550 million, will continue toward the goal…
Another Partnership for CAF Winner Nextlink, Now Joining the DISH Alliance Group
Nextlink Internet, a primarily wireless internet provider based in Texas has been busy lining up key partnerships to grow its business. Founded in 2012, the company first came to Telecompetitor’s attention in 2018, when it…
Rural Service Provider Groups Oppose New Speed Tier Proposed for RDOF
At least two rural service provider groups have voiced opposition to the FCC’s decision to add a new 50/5 Mbps speed tier to the bidding categories for the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Both…
Windstream Upgraded 1.3M High-Speed Broadband Locations Last Year
Windstream said this week that it upgraded high-speed broadband connectivity to approximately 1.3 million locations last year. The company also noted that this represented the fulfillment of three goals for the year: Expanding the Kinetic…
Frontier, CenturyLink Miss CAF II Deployment Milestones for Rural Broadband
Frontier and CenturyLink have informed the FCC that they will not meet certain Connect America Fund CAF II deployment milestones. Carriers that accepted CAF II broadband funding were supposed to have reached 80% of locations…
FCC: Phase 1 of RDOF Would Target Six Million Homes in 48 States
Phase 1 of the proposed Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) would target about six million homes in 48 states, according to the FCC, which plans to vote later this month on whether to adopt plans…