July 8, 2020
Many electric cooperatives are excited to participate in the upcoming Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I Broadband Reverse Auction. RDOF Phase I will make $16 billion available to deploy broadband to unserved areas across the United States, which include many electric cooperative communities. The RDOF auction is a competitive auction that will see entities bidding against each other nationwide for the finite auction budget and to serve specific geographic areas. To preserve the competitive nature of the auction, the FCC implemented strict rules that bar communications relating to bids and bidding strategy to prevent collusion amongst applicants before, during and immediately after the auction's multiple bidding rounds.
The RDOF rules impact how electric co-op bidding consortiums may interact with each other, as well as with individual applicants. Two bidders faced stiff penalties for apparently violating similar rules in the CAF II auction, and we do not want any electric co-op to run afoul of these rules in the RDOF auction. This 75-minute webinar, brought to you by NRECA and ECBA, offers tips on how steer clear of the FCC's non-collusion rules for the RDOF auction.
