FCC Receives Almost 200 applicants for Rural Broadband Experiments

Connected Nation
Published: November 13, 2014

On November 12, 2014, the FCC published a Press Release announcing that 181 applicants had applied for the Rural Broadband Experiment subsidies accounting for almost 600 project bids. These bids, according to the FCC, would account for nearly $885 million worth of projects to serve over 76,000 census blocks across the country.  Bidders include a wide range of entities including “competitive providers, electric utilities, wireless internet service providers, and others.”

The FCC states that in the coming weeks, it will reach out to winning bidders who will then be required to submit financial, technical, and regulatory information in order to participate in the experiment. Finalists who meet the necessary requirements “could launch their experiments as early as spring 2015.”

Connected Nation will continue to keep interested parties updated on the Rural Broadband Experiments. Please reach out to policy@connectednation.org with any inquiries or comments regarding this information.