Oct 20

Oct 20 FCC Denies LTD Broadband’s ETC Waiver Request For Iowa, Nebraska, & North Dakota; LTD Stripped Of $64.9 Million In RDOF Support

UPDATE: FCC Rejects LTD Broadband’s Long-Form Application For Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Support

August 10, 2022 – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced it is rejecting LTD Broadband LLC’s long-form application to receive Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction support. The announcement was made in an FCC News Release.

October 20, 2021 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has rel eas ed an Order denying LTD Broadband LLC’s request for waiver of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction’s 180-day ETC deadline with respect to the states of Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota.[1]

Consequently, LTD Broadband is now in default of its RDOF winning bids in those three states, and will lose a total of 64,987,748.30 in support it was to be awarded.

The Bureau previously stripped LTD Broadband of its RDOF winning bids in California, Kansas, and Oklahoma – a total of $271,833,360.60.[2]

With this decision, LTD Broadband has now lost RDOF support for six states – a total of 336,821,108.90.

LTD’s Waiver Request

LTD Broadband was one of the biggest winners of the FCC’s RDOF Phase I auction. It was a winning bidder in 15 states, with 10-year support totaling $1,320,920,718.20 to serve 528,088 locations, mostly with Gigabit broadband service.

Under the RDOF program rules, a winning bidder that was not already an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) in the areas where it had won RDOF support was given 180 days from the release of the Public Notice[3] identifying all RDOF winners to obtain the necessary ETC designations.[4] The 180-day ETC deadline for RDOF Phase I auction winners was June 7, 2021.

LTD Broadband timely received ETC designations in seven of the 15 states where it won RDOF support, but requested a w a iver of the ETC designation deadline for eight states where it won support: California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas.[5]

The Wireline Competition Bureau, in a decision issued in July 2021, denied the waiver with respect to California, Kansas, and Oklahoma.[6]

The Bureau’s Denial Order

In the Order, the Bureau has denied “LTD’s request to waive the deadline to submit documentation of its ETC designations in Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota.” As for its reasoning, the Bureau generally said:

LTD did not file its ETC applications in any of these three states within the 30-day “good faith presumption” window
LTD Broadband failed to demonstrate good cause justifying waiver of the June 7th ETC documentation deadline

To make a long story short, LTD Broadband really messed this up. LTD “did not file its ETC designation application in Nebraska until April 28 and in Iowa and North Dakota until May 7, approximately five months after the release of the Auction 904 Closing Public Notice.” They waited five months to even get started. Why? LTD said it was under the assumption that both of those states had a 30-day ETC approval process, which is why it didn’t file ETC applications right away. Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow. This is a master class in how not to do things. Also, LTD was probably assuming the FCC would rubber stamp any waiver request, as it would be coming from one of the biggest RDOF winners and the FCC wants the RDOF to be successful.

The Consequences

As a consequence of the decision, LTD Broadband is in default of its winning bids in Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota. LTD previously defaulted on its winning bids for California, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Accordingly, LTD will lose the following support amounts it was awarded from the RDOF auction:

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[1] The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (Auction 904), AU Docket No. 20-34, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WC Docket No. 19-126, Order, DA 21-1311 (Oct. 2o, 2021) (2nd LTD Broadband Waiver Denial Order), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-1311A1.pdf. LTD Broadband was an RDOF winning bidder in 15 states, with 10-year support totaling $1,320,920,718.20 to serve 528,088 locations, mostly with Gigabit broadband service. LTD Broadband sought a waiver of the ETC deadline for eight states: California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. This second order covers Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota. The Bureau is still considering LTD’s request with respect to South Dakota and Texas.

[2] The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (Auction 904), AU Docket No. 20-34, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WC Docket No. 19-126, Order, DA 21-908 (July 26, 2021) (1st LTD Broadband Waiver Denial Order), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-908A1.pdf.

[3] Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I Auction (Auction 904) Closes; Winning Bidders Announced; FCC Form 683 Due January 29, 2021, AU Docket No. 20-34, WC Docket 19-126, WC Docket No. 10-90, Public Notice, DA 20-1422, (Dec. 7, 2020) (RDOF Closing PN), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-20-1422A1.pdf. A list of the winning bidders is available here. An interactive map of the RDOF auction results is available on the Auction 904 web page. A summary of the results by state is available here.

[4] 47 C.F.R. § 54.804(b)(5).

[5] LTD Broadband LLC Petition of for Waiver of Section 54.804(b)(5) of the Commission’s Rules, AU Docket No. 20-34, WC Docket No. 10-90, WC Docket No. 19-126 (filed June 7, 2021), https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/106070476913071/LTD%20Broadband%20ETC%20Waiver%20Request.pdf.

[6] The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Auction (Auction 904), AU Docket No. 20-34, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WC Docket No. 19-126, Order, DA 21-908 (July 26, 2021) (LTD Broadband Waiver Denial Order), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-908A1.pdf.