Janie Dunning

On September 19, 2025, the Missouri Department of Economic Development submitted its final proposal for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. The proposal, which requires approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, would award $792 million to 42 internet service providers in Missouri to serve 213,803 locations.

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) is a program created by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) under former Chairmen Ajit Pai during the first Trump administration. The program was designed with two goals: 1) to extend broadband networks into unserved rural areas while 2) expending the fewest number of federal dollars possible. To accomplish this, RDOF used a “reverse auction” to select winning applicants (ISPs) that requested the least amount of federal funding to deploy broadband in eligible rural areas.