Summary

October 29, 2020 - November 25, 2020

General Information

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is the Commission’s next step in bridging the digital divide.  On August 1, 2019, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to establish the $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack it.  On January 30, 2020, the Commission adopted the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Report and Order, which establishes the framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, building on the success of the CAF Phase II auction by using reverse auctions in two phases.  The Phase I auction, which is scheduled to begin on October 29, 2020, will target over six million homes and businesses in census blocks that are entirely unserved by voice and broadband with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps.  Phase II will cover locations in census blocks that are partially served, as well as locations not funded in Phase I.  The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will ensure that networks stand the test of time by prioritizing higher network speeds and lower latency, so that those benefitting from these networks will be able to use tomorrow’s Internet applications as well as today’s.

For additional details, please refer to the Fact Sheet.

 

Final List of Eligible Areas — October 8, 2020

 

Updated List of Eligible Areas — June 25, 2020

 

Preliminary List of Eligible Areas — March 17, 2020

 

Contact

Please email questions to auction904@fcc.gov.