Here’s the latest from the FCC on the Rural Broadband Experiments…

WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU ANNOUNCES DATE FOR OPENING OF RURAL BROADBAND EXPERIMENTS APPLICATION FILING WINDOW AND FINAL DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
WC Docket No. 10-90
Today, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announces the new date for the opening of the rural broadband experiments application filing window, as well as the corresponding
application deadline.

The application filing window for entities interested in participating in the rural broadband experiments will open on Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 9a.m. EDT. Applicants must complete
and submit FCC Form 5610 to participate in the rural broadband experiments. As part of Form 5610, applicants must attach a dedicated bid form for each proposed project, a single descriptive data
form listing all of their proposed projects, and certain project information.

A link to Form 5610 will be available at http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/rural-broadband-experiments on October 23. Applicants have 15 days from the opening of the filing window to submit Form 5610. Thus, the application filing deadline is Friday, November 7 at 6p.m. EST. Applicants are reminded that the application filing deadline is a firm deadline and are encouraged to file as early in the application filing window as possible to ensure that they have ample time to correct any errors that may occur with their application.

Applicants are encouraged to review all of the informational materials released by the Bureau, particularly the rural broadband experiments webinar. The webinar covers each step of completing Form 5610, including how to upload and attach bid forms, descriptive data forms, and project information. In addition, the Bureau has made available templates of the bid form and
descriptive data form, a sample project information submission, and guides dedicated to working with the rural broadband experiments census block list and completing the bid form. All these materials are available at http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/rural-broadband-experiments.