RDOF Review Unlikely to Be Completed Until Next Year

The FCC is unlikely to complete its review of all Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I long-form applications by year-end, industry experts and agency officials said in recent interviews (see 2103080042). Some said money may not start going out the door until the end of 2022.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers sought an update on the number of long-form applications reviewed. That came in a Sept. 27 letter to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, asking whether the agency expects to complete its review and begin authorizing funds by year-end. “Every day the FCC does not provide direction, more and more Americans will go longer without broadband that is essential for their daily lives," lawmakers wrote. The authorization process likely won’t be fully completed by Dec. 31 and “there are certainly delays in the reviews,” said an FCC official on Thursday.

The FCC announced on Thursday an additional 484 winning bids ready to be authorized for funding. Winning bidders must submit a letter of credit and bankruptcy code opinion letter by 6 p.m. EDT Oct. 22 to be authorized for funding, said a public notice in docket 19-126. In September, the agency authorized 466 of the 1,460 winning bids for funding (see 2109150059). Rosenworcel said Thursday the FCC is “continuing careful oversight of this process to ensure that providers meet their obligations to deploy in areas that need it."

Some winning bidders expressed frustration with the pace of authorizations. It's moving “interminably slow,” said Jonathan Chambers, Conexon partner. The FCC won’t finish it by next year’s end because it hasn’t allocated enough resources, Chambers said. He questioned the "commitment of the agency to get the work done." The "best-case scenario" is that 10% of winning bids will be ready to be authorized by Dec. 31, he said. The FCC declined to comment Thursday on whether it anticipates completing its review of all long-form applications by then.

Applications without any outstanding questions and that appear poised to deliver what they bid on should be authorized to free up staff time on those that require additional scrutiny, said NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs Mike Romano. FCC staff is “well-equipped to do a great job” and “they have to do their due diligence” regardless of how long it takes, Romano said.

"I would've expected them to be further along" in the process and "there's a long way to go," said National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Senior Director-Regulatory Affairs Brian O'Hara. There's "a level of frustration" among NRECA members about the timeline, and members are "chomping at the bit to get moving here," O'Hara said. Part of the reason the review process is taking longer is likely because of Rosenworcel's effort to "clean up" the auction and remove areas that shouldn't have been included, he said.

There isn't much evidence there will be an RDOF Phase II , and it's more likely the FCC will focus on investing in broadband for low-income consumers instead, Chambers said. If there is a Phase II, "we will definitely be asking for some changes," O'Hara said. One concern is that the delay in getting money out the door is because the FCC is still vetting winning bidders. NRECA "would have liked to see more thorough upfront vetting" because the FCC "wouldn't be in the position [it's] in right now," O'Hara said.