Pai Anticipates Vote on $20B Rural Broadband Fund This Month

Wednesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated to his colleagues for a vote a draft order, that if passed, would establish the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to help close the digital divide. Pai plans to schedule a vote on the plan at the agency’s January 30 meeting.

The new fund would provide up to $20.4 billion over the next decade to support the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in rural areas that lack fixed broadband service that meets the Commission's baseline speed standards. To maximize the impact of these investments, the agency would use a multi-round, descending-clock reverse auction. The Commission used this same approach in 2018 for Phase II of the Connect America Fund. That helped fund the deployment of high-speed broadband to 713,000 unserved rural homes and businesses for 30 percent of the projected cost, according to the Commission.

To get money for broadband to participants faster, Pai proposes to divide the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund into two phases. Phase I would provide up to $16 billion to fund the deployment of high-speed broadband in census blocks where the agency knows there's no service that meets the Commission's baseline speed standards. Based on initial estimates, the FCC believes almost six million homes and businesses would be eligible for Phase I.Continue Reading