State Commissioners Urge FCC to Vet Unfamiliar RDOF Winners

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners must follow through on broadband promises, NARUC Telecom Committee members said in interviews last week. NARUC plans to vote at its Feb. 4-5 and 8-11 meeting on a draft resolution urging the FCC to scrutinize RDOF long-form applications (see 2101260033). Some commissioners raised doubts about fixed wireless and said they’re unfamiliar with entities that won federal dollars.

The FCC should hold winning bidders accountable in partnership with state regulators, said the resolution’s sponsor, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley. Regulators should be “appropriately skeptical” of bidders, especially fixed wireless, the elected Democrat said. Presley has seen “inherent problems” with fixed wireless overstating coverage in his state, with customers refused service due to line-of-sight obstructions and other issues. While 65% of RDOF awards there went to rural electric cooperatives, Presley worried about the rest going to providers he's unfamiliar with and untested SpaceX technology: “Trust but verify.”

“Winning bidders must be subject to rigorous vetting before they receive and expend scarce federal dollars to provide reliable broadband service to unserved areas across our nation,” emailed resolution co-sponsor and Indiana Utility Regulatory Commissioner Sarah Freeman. Mid-America Regulatory Conference commissioners extensively discussed the issue at a recent virtual meeting, telling the FCC afterward that the long-form review will be “the most critical phase of the RDOF auction,” said Freeman, a nonpartisan commissioner appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Mike Pence (R). “Broadband availability and affordability are no longer merely a privilege -- they are, without a doubt, necessary to engage meaningfully in American life, particularly as we continue to learn and work from home.”

It’s an “obvious” thing, but the resolution adds an “exclamation ... because it is really important that these projects get built, and it’s a lot of money,” said Vermont Public Utility Commissioner Sarah Hofmann. The FCC should involve states, which know the players more intimately, said the 2015 appointee of then-Gov. Peter Shumlin (D). Vermont voiced frustration in late 2019 when the FCC terminated Mobility Fund Phase II after the state spent thousands of dollars measuring coverage to challenge carrier maps (see 1912060010). For RDOF, “there needs to be much more communication between the FCC and the states,” Hofmann said now.

Nebraska PSC Commissioner Tim Schram (R) seeks scrutiny of fixed wireless providers promising 1 Gbps speeds. It might be difficult to reach that due to factors like topography, location, propagation and signal distance, he said. “It has to be a pretty robust network, unless they’re deploying more fiber than what we’re seeing in the original bid.” The PSC “doesn’t have a lot of experience” with many of Nebraska’s winning bidders, added Schram.

If the FCC can't ensure winning bidders follow through on time with promised speeds, "then the auction has not been a success," said South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Chairman Chris Nelson. State commissions should “rigorously” review potential providers through their eligible telecom carrier designation processes, the elected Republican said. Nelson was glad to see winning bidders across most of South Dakota but surprised to see some that had not previously done business in the state, he said. “We certainly welcome them ... but we want to make sure that they can actually do what they have bid on.”

The FCC declined to comment.

Presley noted poor past communication between state and federal regulators. NARUC’s past president is “150% confident” in FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s commitment to a strong relationship, he said: "Her antenna is tuned correctly.”

“It’s no secret that we’ve had some stress points in the past in our state relationship with the FCC,” said Nelson, state chair of the Joint Board on Universal Service. “My hope is that with the new administration, there will be a respect for state commissioners from the FCC” and vice versa. In the previous administration, the joint board’s federal side rejected states’ recommendation on revamping USF contribution. “The fact that didn’t end in a cooperative manner, like we would have preferred, does not mean that the joint process is not valuable.”

Hofmann hopes the Federal-State Joint Board on Separations will “get back into the spirit of working on problems tomorrow and coming up with solutions.” She's stepping down as joint board state chair when she retires in a month.

NARUC’s broadband task force subgroups will present reports at a virtual meeting Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. EST, said Nelson. Afterward, the group will combine them into a final report and draft recommendations for a resolution “hopefully” at NARUC’s July meeting, he said.