The FCC’s Connect America Fund Phase II Auction concluded last week. The auction allocated nearly $1.5 billion in federal funding over the next decade to support broadband deployments in unserved areas of 45 different states. This aggregate amount was almost $50M per year ($500M for ten years) short of the available CAF II funds. Electric cooperatives, terrestrial fixed wireless providers, satellite operators, and incumbent local exchange carriers were among the winning bidders.
The FCC announced the winning bidders as an attachment to a Public Notice earlier this week. The Public Notice sets forth the next steps for auction winners, including a requirement that each winning bidder submit a post-auction application for support (FCC Form 683) by October 15, 2018. Further information about completing the FCC Form 683 is available here. The Public Notice also clarifies that winning bidders may assign some, or all, of their winning bids to related entities. The Public Notice sets forth the process for dividing and assigning winning bids. The deadline for such assignments is September 14, 2018.
The other notable item for auction winners is the FCC extended its original deadline for submitting the letter of credit commitment letters and detailed technology and system design descriptions. This information is now due by November 5, 2018.
For more information, please contact Tim Doughty (doughty@khlaw.com; 202.434.4271).