Charter CEO flags broadband build challenges

Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge warned the operator expects to face a range of challenges as it presses ahead with Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) subsidized broadband buildouts. In December 2020, Charter won $1.2 billion in Phase I of the Federal Communications Commission’s RDOF auction to fuel broadband deployments across 24 states. Rutledge stressed the size of the undertaking, and he noted the rural nature of the markets it is set to cover will make construction harder. “Physically getting it done is a big deal,” he said. “Getting a labor force in the markets where we’re going to be is going to be difficult. The skillsets don’t exist. Clearing the poles and getting make-ready done is actually a big deal because the utility companies that exist in the rural areas don’t have the staff or the capabilities to get the work done. And so, it’s going to take time to build it out.” Charter believes “there are some things that we can do to, from a regulatory perspective, to make it go faster. And we’re promoting those ideas with regard to clearing poles and doing make-ready ourselves…but I can’t overemphasize how much of a big project this is. It’s physically large, and it’s capital intensive.”