Joan Engebretson

Trust between partners is critical to successful public/private broadband partnerships, said James Baller, a partner with Keller & Heckman, a law firm with a specialty in telecom. A good public/private partnership agreement addresses dozens of variables, said Baller.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, NRTC, the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association and the Ensuring RDOF Integrity Coalition (ERIC) have asked the Federal Communications Commission to release a list of census block groups that provisionally won funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program but on which the winning bidder has defaulted.

If at least 200 MHz of point-to-point mid-band spectrum were made available for fixed wireless, the US could reduce the need to subsidize rural broadband deployments, said Claude Aiken, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA). The recommendation was part of what WISPA is calling a Path to Gigabit plan, which Aiken referred to as a “holistic” approach to making broadband available throughout the US.

Two state associations representing broadband providers have asked the Federal Communications Commission to deny the long-form application filed by LTD Broadband in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program. LTD Broadband had the largest amount of RDOF winning bids in the program and stands to gain $1.3 billion for broadband deployments in 15 states if its long-form application is approved.

Representatives from broadband provider Nextlink met with Federal Communications Commission officials in response to a range of criticism the company has received regarding its provisional win in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. The company was one of the biggest winners in the auction and will receive $429 million for rural broadband buildouts in seven states if the FCC approves its long-form RDOF application. Nextlink has come under fire from critics who argue that the company plans to use unproven fixed wireless technology to provide gigabit speeds.

A group of winners in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction have asked the Federal Communications Commission for the opportunity to review certain information contained in the long-form applications of other winners whose bids have come into question. The filing from Ensuring RDOF Integrity Coalition (ERIC) notes seven bidders whose RDOF bids merit closer scrutiny including four wireless providers – LTD Broadband, Nextlink/ AMG Technology Group, Resound Networks, and Starry/ Connect Everyone. ERIC expresses concern that fixed wireless will not be able to provide the 1 Gb

Cable One has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the 85% of Hargray Acquisition Holdings that it doesn’t already own. The deal, which implies a $2.2 billion total enterprise value for Hargray, is expected to close in the second quarter. Hargray offers gigabit-capable services to approximately 99% of its customers in 14 markets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Cable One, which offers service in 21 states, now focuses primarily on broadband, despite the word “cable” in its name.

A panel was assembled at the Federal Communications Commission to discuss the implementation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program. Among the panelists were non-profit organizations, service provider associations and service providers. Open items discussed included how to qualify participants for the program, how to maximize service provider competitiveness, and how to prepare for the program phase-out.

As more and more stakeholders express concern that some Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) winners will not be able to deploy rural broadband meeting the service parameters to which they committed, one stakeholder has an interesting idea for what to do about this. Perhaps an RDOF amnesty program would be appropriate, suggested Jonathan Chambers, a partner with Conexon. It’s not clear why some companies allegedly were allowed to bid gigabit fixed wireless and others weren’t.

The next big spectrum tug of war will play out in the 12 GHz band, where a broad 500 MHz of spectrum could be available for fixed or mobile use, possibly involving 5G and Wi-Fi. The Federal Communications Commission in Jan adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) about possibly changing the rules for the 12 GHz band that could allow spectrum sharing and other changes. The NPRM is likely to generate a barrage of comments including diverse and, in some cases, mutually exclusive, recommendations.