Bill Would Incentivize RDOF Auction Winners to Speed Up Broadband Deployment

On June 22, Senators Roger Wicker (R–MS), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Shelley Moore Capito (R–WV), and Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) introduced the Accelerating Broadband Connectivity (ABC) Act of 2020.

The ABC Act would provide the FCC with $6 billion to incentivize winning bidders in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auctions – Phase I, scheduled for this October, and, to the extent that there are funds left over, Phase II – to accelerate buildout.

Incentive payments would be proportional to the amount of RDOF support received and conditioned upon recipients meeting the following milestones:

• Begin construction within 180 days;
• Initiate service within one year; and
• Satisfy all buildout obligations within three years.

The following day, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted his support:

I applaud @SenateCommerce Chairman @SenatorWicker, @SenCapito, & Sen. @MarshaBlackburn for introducing the Accelerating Broadband Connectivity Act. It would provide new funds for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction winners to deploy broadband faster. Big win for rural America! pic.twitter.com/z8ZCS9hgAV

— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) June 23, 2020

It is encouraging to see policymakers recognize the urgent need to expand broadband coverage to areas currently unserved.