FCC Ready to Authorize Additional $313M in RDOF I

More than $313 million in FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I support is ready to be authorized, said an FCC news release Friday (see 2203100066). The funding will support more than 130,000 locations in 19 states. Central Telephone Company of Virginia, CenturyLink (now Lumen), CenturyTel, OzarksGo, Qwest, South Central Connect and Tri-County Electric Coop were among the winning bidders ready to be authorized. They have until April 8 at 6 p.m. EDT to submit letters of credit and bankruptcy code opinion letters, said a public notice in docket 19-126. The Wireline Bureau also denied RHMD's request to waive the deadline to obtain eligible telecom carrier designation to receive support, said an order Friday. The company "failed to present information that justifiably explains why its request for ETC designation was filed so late or why it remains pending" at the Georgia Public Service Commission, the order said. The Fiber Broadband Association "commends the [FCC] for continuing to carefully scrutinize [RDOF] long form applications and for approving fiber and well-designed broadband projects," said CEO Gary Bolton. The FCC should "continue to carefully scrutinize non-fiber projects, as this precious funding is desperately needed to connect communities with reliable and future-proof broadband service now and into the future," Bolton said.