Charter Cites Pole Replacement Obstacles As It Surrenders Dozens of RDOF Bids

Charter Communications surrendered dozens of census block groups (CBG) that it was awarded funding for through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. In a letter to the FCC posted Thursday in docket 19-126 (see 2402020006), Charter said it was returning the CBGs in Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin representing "less than 2%" of its winning bids. "Due largely to unforeseeable costs, primarily costs associated with the need for extensive utility pole replacements, deploying broadband in these few specific CBGs has become uneconomical," the company said. Citing pole replacement costs, Charter said utilities "generally have not been willing to share cost responsibility."