Areas Eligible for Rural Broadband Experiments Funding Announced

On July 25, the FCC released the list of eligible areas for its $100 Million Rural Broadband Experiments program, the details of which are summarized in our recent Advisory.

The list includes the following key information:

• the state and county of each census block, along with its tract and block identification numbers;
• the number of locations in the census block, including locations served by rate-of-return carriers and price cap carriers;
• the number of price cap locations in the block eligible for rural broadband experiment support;
• the number of locations within the block eligible for support, broken out by category – i.e., high cost vs. extremely high cost (which is eligible for Category 3 support);
• the annual support amount for each census block as calculated by the Connect America Cost Model; and
• identification of the census blocks eligible for the 25 percent Tribal bidding credit.

The Commission also announced that the previously-released map depicting the geographic areas that may be eligible for Phase II support now provides more detailed information regarding location totals and support amounts at the census tract level, which may be a useful tool for applicants interested in applying for rural broadband experiment funding.

The rural broadband experiments are on an accelerated timetable, with applications possibly due as soon as October 14, 2014, so interested potential applicants should move quickly.  Please contact us if you would like more information.