Tag Archives: RDOF

Office of Broadband Development presents to MN House Committee – hearing a sense of urgency!

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It was a quick meeting today. Policymakers asking good questions with a theme of how can we get money to the unserved folks most quickly. There are clearly a few folks on the committee who are frustrated with their own home access. That may help ignite a fire under everyone – especially as most legislative meetings seem to be remote this year. There is a plan to recycle HF14 (via Rep Rob Ecklund) to get money for broadband. Next step might be getting presentations from the providers; maybe they’ll hear from the communities too.

The MN House Industrial Education and Economic Development Committee got a presentation (House Industrial Ed Broadband Update_DEED) from the Office of Broadband Development on Broadband. They outlined the actions they have taken to get federal funding.

  • Capital Projects Funds – hope to hear by end of month. Will run grant program once they hear – with $70M going to border to border grants.
  • 240,000 houses do not have broadband in MN (speeds 100/20 Mbps); 224,000 of those are in non-metro areas. These numbers are likely low.

Q & A:

  • Why did MN only apply for $70M – although could have gone for $180M. The Legislature only appropriated $70M but there is a chance for more?
  • What about ARPA? How much and where was spent at local level? Not sure – but folks are used it. We will share more when we have it.
  • Is there a timeline for spending federal funds? Until end of 2026
  • Do we have manpower to spend federal funds? Treasury will likely be flexible since worldwide there are supply chain and labor issues.
  • Are we trying to expand broadband to expand to those who don’t have it expeditiously? Yes
  • Who is helping unserved areas? Office of Broadband Development will be reaching out on federal opportunities
  • I want to see every communication made to unserved areas – the ones who are truly unserved, like my area.
  • What has been the impact of RDOF? Treasury says Office of Broadband can award Border to Border funds if the provider doesn’t have an enforceable contract at the time.
  • How much to get broadband to everyone? The areas left are most expensive. We can look into it.
  • What is Walz’s Broadband Budget? $170M of state general funds – spent over at least 3 years. Also budget to get more staff on DNR to help with permitting.
  • What is timeline for opening border to border grants? We are set up; we just need approval
  • If we had appreciated funds in 2021, could you have spent them? Yes

FCC announce latest RDOF winners including ITC and Red River Rural Telephone

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The FCC announces latest RDOF winners…

The Federal Communications Commission today announced that it is ready to authorize more than $1.2 billion through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to fund new broadband deployments in 32 states.  In the largest funding round to date, 23 broadband providers will bring broadband service to over 1 million locations.  The Commission also has created the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, a new effort to monitor and ensure compliance for universal service high-cost programs including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

Here are the awards in Minnesota…

Interstate Telecommunications Cooperative Inc
Census blocks: 153
Locations: 391
Total Award: $51.748.60

Red River Rural Telephone
Census blocks: 5
Locations: 11
Total Award: $29,952.00

There’s an update on what’s happening and expected…

With today’s sixth funding wave, the Commission has now announced over $4 billion in funding to winning bidders for new deployments.  Meanwhile, Commission staff continue to carefully review and process long-form applications on a rolling basis.  Over the past year the Commission has taken a number of actions to strengthen its oversight of the program, including:

  • Sending letters to 197 applicants concerning areas where there was evidence of existing service or questions of waste.  Bidders have already chosen not to pursue support in approximately 5,000 census blocks in response to the Commission’s letters.

  • Denying waivers for winning bidders that have not made appropriate efforts to secure state approvals or prosecute their applications.  These bidders would have otherwise received approximately $350 million.

  • Publishing a list of areas where providers had defaulted, thereby making those places available for other broadband funding opportunities.

  • Conducting an exhaustive technical, financial, and legal review of all winning bidders.

FCC announce latest RDOF winners including Midcontinent and Windstream in Minnesota

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The FCC announces…

By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force (RBATF) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), authorize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for the winning bids identified in Attachment A of this Public Notice.

For each of the winning bids identified in Attachment A, we have reviewed the long-form application information, including the letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from the long-form applicant’s legal counsel.  Based on the representations and certifications in the relevant long-form application, we authorize and obligate support for the winning bids listed in Attachment A.

Here are the awards in Minnesota…

Midcontinent Communications
Census blocks: 680
Locations: 5,978
Total Award: $4,327,175

Windstream Lakedale
Census blocks: 257
Locations: 2,909
Total Award: $6,548,974.10

Kandiyohi County and Reps Baker and Lang make broadband a hot topic

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The West Central Tribune reports…

State Rep. Dave Baker and Sen. Andrew Lang, during a visit to the Kandiyohi County Board of Commissioners, agreed with the commissioners on the importance of getting broadband to the rural areas of the county. Both said completing changes to legislation language and grant matches were important priorities for this year’s legislative session.

Broadband was a hot topic…

The topic the group spent the most time on during Tuesday’s meeting was broadband. Since early 2021, the county board has made expanding the reach of high speed broadband a high priority, even pledging up to 75% of its coronavirus relief funds from the American Rescue Plan act to the cause.

“This group of people are very committed to broadband,” said Connie Schmoll, who has been working on county broadband projects on a contracted basis.

In recent months the state and federal government have also brought broadband forward as a priority, in part due to the pandemic and how it showed the need for high speed internet access across the nation. The federal infrastructure bill includes hundreds of millions of dollars for broadband infrastructure, some of which will come to Minnesota.

“It has become the new rural electric issue. It is infrastructure, it has to happen,” said Commissioner Rollie Nissen.

However, not everything is running smoothly in getting broadband projects approved, funded and constructed. Some of the rules and regulations attached to state broadband grants and federal funding are making it difficult for the county to put all the pieces together. Kandiyohi County has its eye on both a federal grant and a state Border to Border grant, but those regulations are slowing the process.

One of the biggest issues still be hashed out is whether both the state and local units of government like Kandiyohi County can use American Rescue Plan act dollars to fund the same broadband project. Kandiyohi County wants to use part of its ARP money to fund the 50% local match required of the state Border to Border broadband grant. However, the state might use its ARP money to pay its half of the project as well, and state law doesn’t allow that.

“That would really be helpful, if we would remove some of those barriers applying for those grants,” Imdieke said.

The county would also like to see the match local governments are asked to pay when awarded a state broadband grant, presently 50%, to be lowered, to make it easier for more rural areas to participate.

They have run into a familiar hiccup…

Yet another barrier is the inability for the county, when using the state Border to Border program, to be able to extend broadband to areas already within the purview of a private service provider, whether that business provides the service to that area or not. Incumbent first right of refusal means if an unserved or underserved area is within the service area of a private internet provider, that provider can block a Border to Border funded project from moving forward. The county has run into problems with this rule in the past. Kleindl would like to see that rule removed.

Both Baker and Lange agreed that changes needed to be made to the rules. What may have made sense years ago, such as the first right of refusal or the size of grant matches, might no longer work.

“I think it is policy getting in the way,” Baker said. “Money isn’t the issue.”

The county board, Schmoll and others are pushing for those changes to be made quickly, in time for grants to be awarded and projects to be moved forward for construction.

Le Sueur talks to State Reps and Senator about frustration with RDOF and State grants creating blockage for better broadband

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Le Sueur County News reports…

According to a report by the Blandin Foundation, nearly one in four Le Sueur County households are under-served or unserved. But despite the record $70 million in Border to Border grants, Le Sueur County is at risk of not seeing a single cent in state grants.

Many under-served and unserved areas of Le Sueur County are now ineligible for Border to Border grant dollars since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auctioned over $408 million in grants to internet service providers to construct fiber optic networks across northeastern and southern Minnesota.

Of all the companies competing for grants, the largest sum is expected to go to a little-known ISP: LTD Broadband. The telecom provider bid for over $311,000 in 102,000 locations across the state. LTD’s planned fiber optic network encompasses approximately two thirds of unserved and under-served areas in the county.

I’ve written before about the situation in Le Sueur, they have been ineligible for state funding because of the LTD proposed opportunity with RDOF. So far nothing has changed as we wait to hear with LTD gets the funding but Le Sueur has been working to tell the story and on new plans…

Le Sueur County officials and the Board of Commissioners aired these frustrations to state legislators in a meeting on Tuesday. County officials pushed Sen. Rich Draheim (R-Madison Lake), Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL-Northfield) and Sen. Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont) to bring the eligibility issue to the DEED Office, which distributes Border-to-Border grants, and the governor’s office.

“It seems that the state is going to receive a significant amount of money from the federal government for broadband investments, and if this policy issue isn’t addressed, we’re not going to be eligible for these investments,” said County Administrator Joe Martin.

Draheim responded that the state was tied by conditions attached to federal dollars and believe the county’s concerns are primarily tied to the federal government’s actions.

“I think it stems more from the federal government than the state government,” said Draheim. “I definitely will be in contact with the broadband department and others at the state level to see if there’s anything we could work around, but I think we need to be talking to Washington and not St. Paul.”

Draheim offered to have a non-partisan staff member answer clarifying questions on whether it was a state decision or federal conditions that led to the county’s grant request being denied.

In the future, Draheim advocated for the state to shift its focus away from fiber networks and toward subsidizing rural high speed internet through satellite dishes.

”It’s very disappointing for Le Sueur County that we’re in this position. Moving forward, I think the state legislators are going to have to look at what’s the next step,” said Draheim. “We have literally pumped billions of dollars into internet across Minnesota. Unfortunately, most of those federal dollars go to ‘rural internet,’ but it just connects large cities through rural Minnesota and doesn’t help the people of rural Minnesota.”

I think it’s worth noting Draheim’s focus on satellite. I’m afraid we may see a resurgence of interest in satellite in the legislature because it has gotten better but it still does not compete with the fiber, which is built for today’s need and future needs. People and businesses will move to an area with fiber to build a future; they won’t move to areas with satellite-only.

CNS Map of RDOF Auction Details

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CNS continues to update their interactive map of RDOF Auction Details…

Here’s the latest updates:
We update this map whenever the FCC releases RDOF-related data. The latest update was 12/29/2021 with data released from the FCC on 12/14/21 and 12/16/21. Updates include:

“Bids in Default” DA-21-1582A3 12/16/2021

“Ready to Authorize” batches 1-5 12/16/2021

“Authorized” batches 1-4 12/14/2021

LTD seems confident in their RDOF broadband applications

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Regular readers will know about the federal money coming through RDOF. IN short, the FCC held an auction and awarded possible contracts to the winners. What the winners actually got was a chance to complete a long form proposal. LTD is one of the biggest winners of the opportunity; their possible areas cover much of Minnesota and there has been controversy about their ability to deploy the broadband they are understand to do (fiber) and communities have been left in a limbo for more than a year now waiting to hear what happens. Telecompetitor recently posts about a webinar where LTD spoke more about their opportunities…

At stake is $1.3 billion in funding that LTD Broadband was tentatively awarded to bring fiber broadband, primarily at gigabit speeds, to parts of 15 states. The FCC has not yet approved LTD Broadband’s long-form RDOF application, a requirement before funding can be released to the company, but that’s not unusual in the case of the largest winners.

The 10 largest winners in the auction account for three quarters of the $9.2 billion tentatively awarded and most of those winners also have not yet had their long-form applications approved.

The RDOF auction tentatively awarded funding to bring broadband to unserved rural areas, with funding for an area going to the company that committed to deploying service for the lowest level of support. A weighting system favored bids to provide higher-speed, lower-latency service.

LTD Broadband’s win calls for low-latency service at speeds of 1 Gbps downstream and 500 Mbps upstream throughout a large part of the areas won.

LTD seems confident in their long form proposal…

RDOF plans call for the company to “keep growing at a massive rate” and to create regional hubs for handling construction, including one in Colorado, one in Texas and one in Illinois.

Asked whether LTD Broadband has a contingency plan in case its RDOF long-form application is not approved, Hauer said that’s not on the radar.

“The FCC has been very collaborative with us and other awardees,” he said. “They want RDOF to be successful. They want the companies participating in it to succeed and complete the obligation.”

Most recent RDOF Award winners include Federated Telephone, Roseau Electric, Savage and Winnebago in MN

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The FCC reports…

By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force (RBATF) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), authorize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for the winning bids identified in Attachment A of this Public Notice. For each of the winning bids identified in Attachment A, we have reviewed the long-form application information, including the letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from the long-form applicant’s legal counsel. Based on the representations and certifications in the relevant long[1]form application, we authorize and obligate support for the winning bids listed in Attachment A.

Here are the awards in Minnesota…

Federated Telephone
Census blocks: 85
Locations: 248
Total Award: $537,399

Roseau Electric
Census blocks: 61
Locations: 191
Total Award: $948,078

Savage
Census blocks: 492
Locations: 4,541
Total Award: $6,090,478.50

Winnebago
Census blocks: 57
Locations: 178
Total Award: $20,541.70

They also announced some of the reporting requirements, including service milestones

 

LTD Broadband is suing Iowa Utilities Board for RDOF loss

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As several Minnesota communities are stuck in wait-and-see mode as the FCC decides what to do with the LTD RDOF projects that have not been awarded yet, I think it’s informative to see what’s happening in other states and how aggressive LTD is being to pursue funding. Iowa Capital Dispatch reports…

A lawsuit filed by a major provider of broadband services alleges that a recent decision by the Iowa Utilities Board has prevented it from participating in the rollout of a $23 million expansion of broadband service for rural Iowans.

LTD Broadband, a Las Vegas-based company with roughly 150 employees, owns and operates more than 2,500 communications towers in Iowa and six other states, and is suing the Iowa Utilities Board over the alleged delays.

In 2019, the board designated the company as an “eligible telecommunications carrier,” or ETC, that could receive federal funds to support the development of rural and high-cost telecommunications services. That designation was based on the finding that LTD had the requisite “technical, managerial, and financial” capabilities to do the work, and that the designation would be in the public interest.

In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission implemented a new program, called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, designed to improve rural broadband availability throughout the nation. The FCC later announced that LTD was the winning bidder for more than $23 million in federal funding to help bring new broadband service to a substantial portion of Iowa.

And here are the details…

As part of the bidding process, the FCC had specified that the funding could not be provided until LTD received state approval for the expansion of LTD’s existing ETC designation, which would cover the specific service territory for areas covered by the new federal program.

On May 7 of this year, LTD filed an application to expand its ETC designation and then provided the Iowa Utilities Board with additional information that was requested by the by the board staff.

The FCC deadline for obtaining state approval was June 7, and so, with no action taken yet by the Iowa Utilities Board on its application, LTD sought a deadline waiver from the FCC that would give it more time to win the Iowa board’s approval.

The utilities board also didn’t approve LTD’s request at meetings in July, August, September and October, and on Oct. 20, the FCC denied LTD’s request for a waiver of the June 7 deadline.

At the time, the FCC noted that LTD had waited five months after the December 2020 bid award to file its applications in Iowa and two other states, believing approval tale no more than 30 days. “LTD offers no explanation for why it did not file in these states sooner, or why waiting until the last possible moment to file (even if its assumptions about a 30 day approval process were correct) was a choice warranting waiver,” the FCC stated.

LTD then sought reconsideration of the FCC order and, at the same time, it filed a request with the Iowa board seeking an expedited ruling on its expansion request.

In November, the board issued a ruling denying the expansion request, citing the company’s alleged failure to comply with the “minimal” regulations Iowa had already imposed upon it.

The board pointed out that the company had yet to comply with a February 2019 order to file a registration as a telecommunications service provider, was past due on the payment of certain assessments, and had not yet filed the required annual reports for 2019 and 2020.  The board also accused LTD of routinely submitting regulatory filings with “obvious errors.”

The lawsuit filed by LTD does not directly address the concerns raised by the board in its November ruling, but alleges the company has been held to a higher standard than other broadband service providers.

Senator Klobuchar Call with Benton, Chisago, Isanti County Officials on how Infrastructure Bill will Expand Rural Broadband: Notes and archive

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Here’s the intro…

On Monday, November 22, at 2:00pm CT, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Broadband Caucus, will hold a call with community broadband advocates from Benton, Chisago, and Isanti Counties to discuss how the recently enacted bipartisan infrastructure bill will help expand broadband to rural Minnesota communities.

Klobuchar will be joined by Chisago Lakes Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katie Malchow, Isanti County Administrator Julie Lines, and Benton County Commissioner Jared Gapinski, as well as Mary Magnuson, a broadband program administrator at the Blandin Foundation.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill included the largest investment our country has ever made in broadband infrastructure, with many provisions based on Klobuchar’s legislation with House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) to help bring high-speed internet to every corner of the country.

And my notes, which are bulleted to keep up. From Sen Klobuchar:

  • Broadband coverage seems random at times
  • Blandin was way ahead of its time in recognizing broadband issues in rural Minnesota and creating solutions
  • Access to email isn’t enough anymore; students need to be able to take tests remotely and corporate/healthcare workers need to be able to consult remotely
  • Problems: mapping, giving money to providers that have a history of not meeting needs
  • Solutions: open access to funds to all providers and get money back from providers who don’t meet needs
  • Make broadband affordable – average monthly cost in MN is $68/month

From Katie Malchow

  • Broadband isn’t about politics, it’s about getting people connected
  • We started out broadband journey working with Blandin Foundation
  • We surveyed residents and found a disconnect between what providers said they offered and what consumers saw at home
  • Not all providers are created equal and some have not met the needs of MN residents for a while now. Maybe it’s time to ask folks on the frontlines who they would choose.
  • This is going to be a one-time investment, it’s spend it wisely.

From Jared Gapinski

  • Started talking about broadband as community in Jan 2020 (he’s new to county commission) in Jan 2021 when they realized they have 600-700 hotspots in student home, which meant that many households were un/underserved
  • They want to do a middle mile fiber project to get providers into the area
  • He pays for 100/100 Mbps connection – but it tests at 30/11
  • The community is stuck in RDOF/LTD limbo – waiting to hear from FCC is LTD got the contract
  • We need time to plan and educate to make sure we spend money wisely.

From Julia Lines

  • Broadband coverage is good in the cities but bad in the land between
  • East Central Energy is (finally) talking to them about providing broadband
  • The boundaries of cities/towns/counties are getting in our way
  • MidCo is helping in the cities but not rural areas
  • If we want people to relocate from the Cities to rural areas, we need to provide metro-quality broadband

From Mary Magnuson

  • We worry about the Swiss cheese effect that leaves certain areas unserved and as others become better served those areas fall farther and farther behind
  • RAMS is now hosting the MN state broadband speed test – available to everyone
  • Local places need to have local buy in – especially when it comes to choosing providers in their communities

Most recent RDOF Award winners include Midcontinent and Roseau Electric in MN

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FCC announced latest RDOF awards…

The FCC today announced that it is ready to authorize $709,060,159 in its fourth round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.  Together with three prior funding wave announcements, the Commission has now announced over $1.7 billion in funding to winning bidders for new deployments.  In this funding wave, 50 broadband providers will bring broadband service to over 400,000 locations in 26 states. …

The 26 states slated for today’s funding include Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.  The bulk of today’s funding will go to nonprofit rural electric cooperatives to deploy broadband throughout their service areas.

Here are the awards in Minnesota:

Midcontinent
Census blocks 683
Locations 5706
Total Award $4,453,800.60

Roseau Electric
Census blocks 76
Locations 266
Total Award $1,228,494

And from the small print, in case there’s something to learn or we need it in the future…

With regard to its ETC designation in Minnesota, MidCo was able to secure its designation from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on May 28, 2021, and submit the Order to the Commission on June 1, 2021, prior to the June 7 deadline.[1]  Thus, we dismiss as moot MidCo’s request for waiver with regard to Minnesota.

[1] See Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Docket No. P-6186/SA-21-124, In the Matter of a Notice to Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Grant Winners et al., (May 28, 2021).

Chippewa County looks at broadband options as from RDOF-LTD lens

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Montevideo American News reports…

Chippewa County Commissioners are discussing the various funding sources and policies that are impacting the county. Numerous state and federal funding programs have resulted in plans that will provide new options to many in rural parts of the County.

LTD Broadband was recently awarded $1.3 billion in federal funds to provide a combination of fiber and fixed wireless broadband service to customers across 15 states including large portions of rural Chippewa County. This could mean new opportunities for many rural residents that are currently considered “unserved” by the Minnesota Office of Broadband Map. This investment must be rolled out in the County by 2027 according to the FCC rules. Chippewa County representatives will be actively monitoring the roll out of this broadband improvement.

Meanwhile, this federal grant renders these “unserved” areas of the County ineligible for other grant funds until the company builds their network. This means Chippewa County is limited on how it can apply for and use other state and federal funds dedicated to improving broadband service.

County leaders are getting into national discussions…

County staff are also engaging in important broadband development policy discussions on a national scale. Terry Ocaña, Chippewa County’s IT Director, is an active member on the National Association of Counties Broadband Task Force, participating and staying up to date on broadband issues and policies and bringing that knowledge and information back to Chippewa County to guide conversations about local options. This taskforce recently released a national report on the importance of broadband throughout the country.

More RDOF grants made: Windstream only MN winner with 2,830 locations

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From the FCC…

The FCC today announced that it is ready to authorize $554,150,641 million in its third round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.  Together with two prior funding wave announcements, the Commission has now announced over $1 billion in funding to winning bidders for new deployments.  In this funding wave, 11 broadband providers will bring fiber-to-the-home gigabit broadband service to over 180,000 locations in 19 states.  The Commission also denied several waiver petitions by companies that did not diligently pursue their applications.

You can get the details on winners; I’ve pulled out the Windstream totals:

Windstream:

  • Census blocks 20
  • Locations 2,830
  • Total Award $6,548,963.30

The was some news about LTD broadband. Although not in Minnesota…

The FCC also continued to work to ensure that funding only supports providers that comply with program requirements.  The FCC denied LTD Broadband’s petition seeking waiver of the deadline to be designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier in Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota, and denied NW Fiber’s petition seeking waiver of the deadline for submitting a post-auction long form application.

More RDOF grants made; 16,406 locations in MN – no word on LTD

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The FCC reports (yesterday)…

The FCC today announced that it is ready to authorize $163,895,636 to 42 providers in the second round of funding for new broadband deployments through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The Commission is also continuing its work to refocus the program to ensure that funding goes to unserved areas that need broadband. As part of that process, 85 winning bidders have chosen not to pursue buildout in 5,089 census blocks in response to letters the FCC sent asking applicants to review their bids in areas where there was evidence of existing service or questions of potential waste.

“More help is on the way to households without broadband,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This is an important program for getting more Americans connected to high-speed internet, and we are continuing careful oversight of this process to ensure that providers meet their obligations to deploy in areas that need it.”

In this funding wave, 42 broadband providers will bring fiber-to-the-home gigabit broadband to approximately 65,000 locations in 21 states over the next 10 years. The Commission continues to closely review long-form applications of other winning bidders that were previously announced to ensure they meet the technical, financial, and operational capabilities to comply with program obligations.

There was no mention of LTD awards. (There are controversies around LTD potential awards, especially in Minnesota.)

Here’s the scoop in MN

  • 7 winners in Minnesota
  • 2,076 census blocks
  • 16,406 locations
  • 10 year total investment $63009843.5

Here are the details (done in paper in pencil so close but maybe not exact) on each provider:

Arrowhead Electric Cooperative
Census blocks 440
Locations 4879
Total Award $18,462,273.1

Consolidated Telephone Company
Census blocks 121
Locations 979
Total Award $18819119.10

Federated Telephone Cooperative
Census blocks 85
Locations 248
Total Award $517399

Garden Valley Telephone Company
Census blocks 186
Locations 492
Total Award $2792139.40

Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative
Census blocks 763
Locations 5088
Total Award $16307892.10

Savage Communications
Census blocks 509
Locations 4542
Total Award $6090479.10

Winnebago Cooperative Telecom Association
Census blocks 57
Locations 178
Total Award $ 20541.7

 

FCC announces some RDOF winners – in MN that’s Farmers Mutual Telephone Company

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FCC announced 466 RDOF winning bids. The only winner announced in Minnesota was Farmers Mutual Telephone Company. Here’s the announcement…

By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), in conjunction with the Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force (RBATF) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), authorize Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) support for the winning bids identified in Attachment A of this Public Notice.

For each of the winning bids identified in Attachment A, we have reviewed the long-form application information, including the letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from the long-form applicant’s legal counsel.  Based on the representations and certifications in the relevant long-form application, we authorize support for the winning bids listed in Attachment A.

We will also soon post a state-level summary under the “Results” tab on the Auction 904 webpage at https://www.fcc.gov/auction/904/round-results.  The summary will provide for each long-form applicant included in this Public Notice:  1) the total support amount over 10 years and total number of locations that the long-form applicant is being authorized for in each state, 2) the total number of locations to which the authorized support recipient must offer the required voice and broadband services for each performance tier and latency in each state, and 3) the eligible census blocks included in the winning bids that are being authorized in each state.

Here are some of the details for the Farmers Mutual bids:

Winning bid MN-073-1801002

  • 26 locations
  • $21,054.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1801001

  • 2 locations
  • $ 7,626.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1801003

  • 6 locations
  • $ 2,294.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1802001

  • 119 locations
  • $ 216,152.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1802002

  • 37 locations
  • $ 166,258.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1803001

  • 39 locations
  • $ 152,096.00

Winning bid MN-073-1803002

  • 78 locations
  • $ 177,172.00 over 10 years

Winning bid MN-073-1803003

  • 25 locations
  • $ 17,170.00 over 10 years

No word on LTD.