The Wireline Competition Bureau said certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census block groups (CBG) are now eligible for other funding programs. Specifically, Mercury Wireless Indiana, LLC told the FCC it can’t uphold its commitment to offer voice and broadband service to certain CBGs within its RDOF support service areas in Indiana and Michigan.
Mercury Wireless Kansas, LLC also told the agency it’s withdrawing from the RDOF support program in all of the CBGs covered by its authorized winning bids in Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri. To date, Mercury has defaulted on around 2,000 Census Block Groups that it won in the 2020 RDOF reverse auction, citing rising costs and competitive encroachment, notes Broadband Breakfast.
“Although some defaults after auctions are expected because of changing business plans or economic circumstances, we expect carriers to live up to their deployment commitments, and those who fail to meet their obligations can jeopardize the opportunity to bring broadband to the promised areas and undermine the integrity of the programs,” said the Wireline Competition Bureau. “Such defaults are particularly regrettable when the carrier waits years after authorization to default, making it difficult to correct the problem and otherwise accommodate the defaulted areas in other deployment programs.”
PVT NetWorks, Inc. also notified the Commission that it will not fulfill its commitment to offer voice and broadband service to certain CBGs within its RDOF support service area in New Mexico. Cable One VOIP LLC d/b/a Sparklight said the same thing about all of the CBGs covered by its authorized winning bids in Idaho as did Fidelity Cablevision LLC about its winning bids in Missouri.
The carriers will be subject to penalties for their defaults, the FCC said. The Wireline Competition Bureau will refer Mercury Indiana and Mercury Kansas’ defaults to the Enforcement Bureau for further consideration. The agency said it will also consider Cable One, Fidelity, and Mercury Kansas to have defaulted on their RDOF service milestones in Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, respectively.
All the carriers mentioned in a November 27 notice will receive no further RDOF auction support payments and are subject to support recovery and non-compliance measures consistent with the Commission’s rules. The FCC will also remove their RDOF service areas from the Broadband Funding Map.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
Reader Interactions