Broadband Advocates, ISPs Urge 'Amnesty Period' for RDOF, CAF II Recipients
A coalition of nearly 70 broadband experts, ISPs, community leaders and nonprofit organizations urged the FCC to grant a "brief amnesty period" for certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund II areas in a letter Wednesday (see 2308170049).…
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Among those signing the letter were the American Association for Public Broadband, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Communications Workers of America and Connect Humanity. The coalition warned that large and rural areas intended to be connected through both programs "will remain disconnected due to the inability or unwillingness of ISPs to fulfill their obligations." In addition, the group said areas that will be served through either program aren't eligible for support through NTIA's broadband, equity, access, and deployment program. "Unfortunately, there are a large number of census blocks throughout the country where RDOF and CAF II awardees have not even begun to build their networks for a variety of reasons," the letter said. An amnesty will let states include these communities on their maps because of "unfulfilled RDOF and CAF II commitments," the group argued. The letter noted it's "entirely in the commission's power to ensure that large swaths of rural America are not left out."