The Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) says in a new study shared with the FCC that errors in broadband data will soon send hundreds of millions of dollars of federal broadband subsidies to areas of the country least in need of support. Because of that, CCA asked the Commission to reconsider awarding Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I grants to wealthy, densely populated areas with broadband access, and instead direct support to genuinely unserved communities.
Last year, the FCC’s RDOF used a reverse auction to try to direct billions of dollars of federal subsidies to areas without access to at least 25/3 Mbps in broadband services. The premise of RDOF Phase I was to target areas that the Commission “knew with certainty” were “currently unserved.” The agency used the broadband location maps it had at the time. It has since begun updating the data collection for the maps, Inside Towers reported.
In the study shared with the agency yesterday, CCA estimates the FCC will improperly send between $144 million to more than $1 billion to locations with sites that receive fixed or mobile broadband service of 25/3 Mbps or more. The trade lobby also estimates between $115 to $745 million will go to sites that already receive fixed broadband service of 25/3 Mbps or more.
Examples of addresses within many of the census blocks slated to receive support include Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California; portions of the inner loop central business district in downtown Chicago, Illinois; some of the largest and busiest airports in the world; and preeminent technology hubs such as Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, California and the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. CCA says its data shows these RDOF award sites are not “aberrations,” and cover nearly 403,000 people.
Independent of applicants’ obligation to supply accurate information, CCA says its analysis gives the Commission a path forward. “Ratepayers may be on the hook for more than $20 billion of RDOF subsidies. With that amount of government assistance flowing from the Commission, we all have an interest in ensuring that resources are well spent,” the group says in a letter accompanying the study.
CCA President/CEO Steve Berry said, “CCA has long advocated for more reliable data, and this is a prime example of what can happen if bad data is used. The good news is that the FCC can correct this mistake and help rural America close the digital divide.”
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