FCC Staff Presentation on Connect America Fund Auction Results

The Federal Communications Commission's Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force made a presentation on the first multiple-round, reverse auction to allocate ongoing, high-cost universal service support for fixed broadband service. Yes, that's right -- the first. Each bid was a commitment to offer broadband and voice services in a particular area for an amount of support. The support amount associated with a bid depended on the speed, latency, usage levels of the broadband service. Bids started high and went down. Uh huh -- how low can you go, my carrier? The results will include service to 713,176 homes and small businesses in 45 states (99.75% at speeds of 25/3 Mbps or higher). 103 winning bidders include wireless internet service providers, electric co-ops, cable operators, local exchange carriers, and a satellite company.