FCC Greenlights $200 Million More in Latest Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Round

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2022 – The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday it has approved $200 million to be distributed from the $9.2-billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will go to fund broadband expansion to over 230,000 locations in 26 states.

The announcement marks the ninth wave of funding confirmations, bringing the total amount confirmed to over $5.2 billion to three million locations in 47 states and the northern Mariana islands.

Since last year, the agency has embarked on investigating which winners from the reverse auction process would be covering areas that didn’t need the money. The investigation emerged after reports that money to some of the winners, who were announced under a previous administration in December 2020, would go to areas that already had adequate connectivity.

“We need to connect everyone, everywhere, and today’s announcement will open new opportunities to serve communities that need high-speed, reliable broadband service,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a Tuesday press release.  “We’re also working hard to make the best use of this funding to ensure that applicants meet their obligations and follow our rules.  With proper oversight, this program can advance our goal of closing the digital divide.”

The FCC announced Tuesday that more defaulted bids were submitted, bringing to approximately 5,000 the total number of census blocks that bidders are now not going to pursue.

The commission had previously sent letters to 197 applicants about coverage areas with existing service asking them if they wanted to revoke their bids, with a number of companies having done so on the grounds that previous FCC maps on which their bids were based did not show areas that already had existing infrastructure. The FCC is currently working on improved maps that will instruct the distribution of billions of dollars in broadband infrastructure.

In January, the commission had also established the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, which adds audit and verification measures to monitor compliance with programs including RDOF.

Details about the states covered are available on the FCC’s Auction 904 website.