Cox Back On Track with RDOF, Except in Nebraska
ISP still subject to financial penalties in the Cornhusker State
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2025 – Cox Communications is back on track to fulfilling its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund obligations – minus Nebraska.
On Monday, Cox, led by Chairman and CEO Alex Taylor, filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission giving an update on its RDOF progress. The mandatory filing showed that the internet-service provider was 99 percent of the way to completing its third year deployment milestone in California, 96 percent of the way in Louisiana, 76 percent of the way in Nebraska, and 113 percent of the way in Virginia (they reported deploying more locations than the milestone required).
The RDOF program requires carriers to deploy broadband internet to at least 40 percent of locations awarded to them in each state by the end of the third full calendar year after being awarded funding.
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For Cox, that meant the end of 2024. In March, the FCC notified Cox that it had failed to meet this third-year milestone in California, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Virginia.
At that time, Cox was in non-compliance Tier 1 for California and Virginia (between 85-95 percent of the way to reaching the milestone), Tier 2 for Nebraska (between 75-85 percent of the way) and Tier 3 for Louisiana (between 50-75 percent of the way). Each non-compliance tier brings with it additional reporting requirements and financial penalties, though federal regulations mandate that penalized funds be returned to providers once they are in compliance. Providers that are at least 95 percent of the way to completing the milestone are considered to be in compliance.
Compliance numbers by state
Cox achieved compliance in three of these states by reporting an additional 67 deployed locations in California, 49 in Louisiana, and 27 in Virginia. This sudden increase in deployed locations was due in large part to Cox identifying and certifying additional locations which were deployed in 2024 but not included in its year-end report.
Nebraska however stayed in Tier 2, with Cox reporting no new locations. This means that Cox is still required to file quarterly reports with the FCC detailing its progress in the state. It also means that Cox will have 15 percent of its promised monthly support from the FCC for Nebraska withheld until it gets at least 85 percent of the way to achieving the milestone, something Cox says won’t happen until at least November 2025.
Cox is either very fortunate, or very deliberate, about how the numbers shook out. Had they reported two less deployed locations in Louisiana, they would still be in Tier 1 in that state, and subject to mandatory quarterly progress reports. They are even more fortunate in Nebraska. Had the ISP reported even one less deployed location in the state, they would be in non-compliance Tier 3, and would have 25 percent of their support withheld, rather than 15 percent.
Cox is the largest private broadband provider in the U.S., serving nearly seven million homes and businesses across 18 states from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Cox’s delays are emblematic of broader struggles within the RDOF program, which has been plagued by defaults. Of the $9.2 billion initially awarded to providers, over $3.3 billion of that has been defaulted on.
