FCC Takes Key Step Toward Auction To Expand Rural Broadband, Identifying Locations Eligible for Support from Connect America Fund

Continuing its push to expand access to broadband in rural America, the Federal Communications Commission identified the locations of nearly 1 million homes and small businesses in 48 states that are eligible for up to $2 billion in support for broadband deployment over the next decade. Currently unserved by high speed Internet access, these locations are in largely rural areas, where, absent support, carriers are unlikely to expand service. Now, the FCC’s Connect America Fund is preparing to distribute up to $2 billion in support to companies that successfully compete in an innovative auction to deploy robust broadband at the lowest cost in these unserved rural areas across the country. The auction seeks to expand service to census blocks unserved by broadband delivering speeds of 10 Mbps downloads/1 Mbps uploads. The auction’s use of competitive market forces maximizes the value the American people will receive from the Connect America Fund by balancing deployment of higherquality services with cost efficiencies. The auction is set to launch in 2018.