Fund size and administrative cost projections for the third quarter of calendar year 2022 (3Q2022). USAC projects a consolidated budget of $61.60 million for 3Q2022. Direct costs for all support mechanisms total $32.38 million. Joint and common costs (including billing, collection, and disbursement activities) total $29.22 million. For 3Q2022, High Cost Support Mechanism funding requirements are projected as follows: $86.36 million for High Cost Loop support, $252.36 million for Connect America Fund (CAF) Broadband Loop Support (BLS), $9.29 million for frozen Price Cap Carrier Support, $4.92 million for CAF Phase II, $38.70 million for CAF Phase II Auction, $91.89 million for frozen Competitive Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (CETC) Support, $92.08 million for CAF/Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) Support, $32.08 million for Alaska Plan Support, $107.86 million for Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM), $126.91 million for A-CAM II, $26.86 million for Uniendo a Puerto Rico/Connect USVI, and $168.61 million for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

USAC projects $287.08 million will be required for Lifeline support. The Rural Health Care Support Mechanism collection requirement of $159.43 million represents one quarter of the cap for Funding Year 2022. The amount includes collection requirements for the Telecommunications Program, the Healthcare Connect Fund, and administrative costs. The collection requirement of $159.43 million is adjusted as follows: decreased by a prior period adjustment of $0.18 million; resulting in a total projected 3Q2022 funding requirement for the Rural Health Care Support Mechanism of $159.25 million. Total projected funding requirement for the Connected Care Pilot Program is $8.34 million. The funding requirement for the Schools and Libraries Support Mechanism is $606.99 million.

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a forfeiture of $100,000 against LTD Broadband for repeatedly engaging in prohibited communications of its bidding and bidding strategies during the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I Auction (Auction 904), and its failure to timely report such prohibited communications. The FCC has long-standing rules that bar communications between and among auction applicants during an auction that could detract from a fair and competitive auction process. To that end, the Commission also requires auction applicants to self-report such violations promptly upon their occurrence. Timely reporting of these “prohibited communications” allows the agency to address swiftly the effects to the auction process.The FCC finds that LTD, an applicant in Auction 904 bidding for financial support to offer voice and broadband service in underserved areas, apparently violated FCC rules by willfully and repeatedly engaging in prohibited communications of its bidding, bidding strategies, and bidding results to Cox Communications via LTD’s investment agent, RJM & Company. The FCC also finds that LTD apparently violated agency rules by failing to report these communications within the required five-day reporting window.

Communities across the US are struggling to navigate a maze of government funding opportunities for broadband. AT&T’s broadband grant chief said a key piece of the puzzle is expected to drop in the next 30 days which could help make the path forward much clearer. Jeff Luong is president of Broadband Access and Adoption and head of AT&T’s quest to secure government grants. He said state and local officials are still trying to hash out how best to use money allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to achieve their broadband goals. But there’s a hitch: it’s difficult for communities to decide what to do with their ARPA funding without knowing how they’ll be able to use money from the IIJA’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. BEAD will be the vehicle for $42.45 billion of the $65 billion for broadband allocated by the IIJA. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is responsible for distributing that money, began crafting its rules for the program in January. Luong said an initial version of the rules is expected to be unveiled sometime in the next 30 days. “I think it’ll provide some clarity for a lot communities and states to say ‘ok, now that we understand how the BEAD funding will be utilized and what are the rules around that, then we can determine how aggressive or conservative to be with the ARPA funding,’” he said.

Alan Davidson, the Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), recently held a press conference and webcast talking about the $1 billion Middle-Mile Broadband Infrastructure grant program. The biggest takeaway from that conversation is that the NTIA is likely to make these awards much sooner than the awards from the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants for last-mile broadband. Davidson was not specific about the dates of these grants, but anybody wanting to request one of these grants should start getting ready. It’s worth noting that the last-mile BEAD grants will not fund middle-mile fiber. The early NTIA rules indicate that the grants will expect any constructed fiber to have closely-spaced and regular access points. This is what distinguished last-mile fiber from middle-mile fiber. Anybody wanting the Middle-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program grants needs to craft a good story about why a specific middle-mile grant is needed. $1 billion might sound like a lot of money, but on the national scale, it’s not a lot. This works out to an average of only $20 million per state. If you assume an average cost of middle-mile fiber at between $35,000 and $50,000, that’s only 400 – 575 miles of new fiber, on average, per state. To put this grant program into perspective, California has established a $3.5 billion middle-mile grant program just for within the state.

[Doug Dawson is president of CCG Consulting.]

Oakland (CA)’s new chief information officer Tony Batalla said he would work to reduce internet access gaps in the city and support digital literacy efforts. Oakland is home to a major port, adjacent to the University of California, Berkeley, and near Silicon Valley, but along with those economic advantages are some neighborhoods in the city beset by crime and poverty. Batalla, who started May 2, sees internet access and technology helping address the needs of those communities. “In the most underserved areas of Oakland, there’s still a lot of opportunity to connect homes, to bring internet directly to residents,” he said. The chief technology officer in the neighboring San Francisco Bay Area city of San Leandro (CA) from 2014 to early 2022, Batalla comes to the role with experience overseeing internet infrastructure projects. In San Leandro, he was responsible for managing the rollout of the city’s fiber-optic network, which supported citywide free Wi-Fi and high-speed business and residential internet services. Batalla said he expects to work with a network of municipal organizations, nonprofits and private-sector partners to help expand digital access. His priorities also include connecting underserved communities with training and hardware, building on prior experience. In San Leandro, Batalla helped lead a partnership with the nonprofit Tech Exchange to donate refurbished computers to residents in need.