Today's Regulatory Mix: US Senate Letter on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, FCC Announces Newest Round of Telehealth Application Funding, FCC Announces Additional Connect America Fund Phase II Auction Support

US Senate Letter On Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai requesting information on accelerating the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction. Specifically, he is seeking information on how the FCC’s RDOF Phase I auction planned for October of this year would be impacted by various legislative proposals for speeding up the allocation of funding, including a proposal to make awards at 100% of the reserve price in any areas where pre-auction filings indicate there is only one potential bidder willing to provide symmetrical gigabit-speed service. See the Regulatory Mix dated 6/2/20.


As such, the Senator seeks responses to the following questions by June 12, 2020:

1. Under current rules, the FCC is expected to review and process long-form applications at the conclusion of the RDOF Phase I reverse auction. Please explain the Commission's rationale for processing long-form applications after the auction has been completed.

2. One proposal considers requiring the FCC to review and process long-form applications 30 days after the Commission begins accepting short-form applications or by July 31. 2020. How would such a requirement impact the auction's expected start date? What additional personnel or resources would the FCC need to meet such a deadline?

3. If long-form applications submitted to the FCC before the start of the auction indicate that there would be only one qualified applicant willing to provide symmetrical gigabit-speed service to a census block or census block groups, how would an award to such an applicant before the auction at 100 percent of the reserve price impact the auction's composition? In your response, please address the impact on the auction's overall budget, the number of bidders that could participate in the auction, and the total number of census blocks or census block groups that could be served, as well as any other relevant benchmark.

4. Please outline the process the FCC would have to follow under the Administrative Procedure Act to modify the framework of the auction to meet accelerated deadlines for processing long-form applications and making awards before the commencement of the auction.

5. Has the FCC updated or modified the Preliminary List of Eligible Areas released on March 17? When will an updated list be made available to the public?

FCC Announces Newest Round of Telehealth Application Funding

The FCC announced approval of an additional 53 funding applications for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. Health care providers in both urban and rural areas of the country will use this $16.46 million in funding to provide telehealth services during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program, which was authorized by the CARES Act, has approved funding for 238 health care providers in 41 states plus Washington, D.C. for a total of $84.96 million in funding.

FCC Announces Additional Connect America Fund Phase II Auction Support

The FCC announced it is ready to authorize CAF II Auction support for 480 winning bids in the state of Pennsylvania. To be authorized to receive the total 10-year support amounts listed in the affected applicants are required to submit acceptable irrevocable stand-by letter(s) of credit and Bankruptcy Code opinion letter(s) from their legal counsel for each state where they have winning bids that are ready to be authorized in accordance with the instructions provided below by the applicable deadline – prior to 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 18, 2020.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.