FCC Releases List Of
Qualified Bidders For Phase I Of Rural Digital
Opportunity Fund Auction
October 13, 2020
The Federal Communications
Commission today announced that 386 applicants
are qualified to bid in the Rural Digital
Opportunity Fund Phase I auction.
In a Public Notice, the Rural Broadband
Auctions Task Force, Office of Economics and
Analytics, and Wireline Competition Bureau
identified the qualified applicants and provided
educational materials for participating in the
auction.
The number of qualified
bidders represents a more than 75% increase in
the number of bidders in 2018’s successful
Connect America Fund Phase II auction and also
includes bidding consortia that contain multiple
service providers. Qualified
bidders will compete to receive up to $16
billion over ten years to provide broadband to
wholly unserved areas, with priority given to
bids for higher speeds (up to 1 Gbps) and lower
latency.
“With today’s announcement,
we are taking one of the last steps before
ringing the opening bell for the Rural Digital
Opportunity Fund, our biggest and boldest step
yet to bridge the digital divide for over 10
million unserved consumers across rural
America,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
“The unprecedented interest in this
auction is due in large part to key decisions by
the FCC, including providing substantial funding
and promoting technological neutrality toward
potential bidding participants, as well as our
staff’s extensive work to spread awareness of
the program and ensure the broadest
participation in a competitive auction that will
deliver real benefits to rural Americans across
the country.”