Frontier Hopes to Prevent Bankruptcy from Interfering with RDOF Participation

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Frontier has filed a waiver request with the Federal Communications Commission, the resolution of which could impact the company’s ability to participate in Phase 1 of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, scheduled to begin in Oct. Frontier entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April. As the waiver petition explains, the company expects the bankruptcy court to confirm its proposed reorganization plan in Aug, enabling the company to emerge from bankruptcy “thereafter upon obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.” That means the company might emerge from bankruptcy before the RDOF auction concludes. In that situation, the company’s organizational structure as of when its short-form application to participate in the RDOF auction was filed would differ from its organizational structure post-bankruptcy. But RDOF auction rules allow only minor changes to short-form applications – such as correcting typographical errors – after the initial short-form deadline. Accordingly, the Frontier RDOF waiver request seeks to allow the changes in organizational structure on the short-form application. The company said it is doing so “out of an abundance of caution.”


Frontier Hopes to Prevent Bankruptcy from Interfering with RDOF Participation