April 2, 2020
In January 2020, the FCC adopted rules to award up to $20.4 billion through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RuDOF) to provide 10 years of ongoing Universal Service Fund support for voice and broadband services in high cost areas. To award this support, the FCC will use a reverse auction format similar to the successful CAF-II auction that awarded $1.5 billion in 2018. In CAF-II, a number of rural electric co-ops won funding to deploy state-of-the art broadband networks in their service areas.
The purpose of this webinar is to share important information about the FCC's fast approaching $20.4 billion broadband auction, called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RuDof). This auction is the single largest amount of money for broadband deployment ever offered and could move the needle for any co-op on the fence about whether to deploy broadband. Phase I of the RuDOF is moving forward quickly and bidding is currently scheduled to begin on October 22, 2020.
