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.

April 26, 2021 – LTD Broadband, LLC recently conducted an ex parte meeting with the legal advisor to Acting Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel “to discuss LTD’s ability to meet its commitment to provide Gigabit Tier fiber service in the areas where it won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I support.” LTD provided the following background information on its existing broadband operations:

LTD currently has more than 150 employees and has built a reliable fixed broadband network using fixed wireless and fiber technologies.

LTD has experienced 40 percent customer growth in each of the past seven years, with more than 500 towers activated since January 2020.

LTD has deployed service to 70 percent of its Connect America Fund (CAF) locations and expects to complete its buildout well ahead of the required six‐year period.

LTD assisted consumers during the covid pandemic by taking the “Keep Americans Connected” pledge and is participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program.

With respect to review of RDOF long-form applications, LTD said it “trust[s] that the FCC will perform its duty to fairly and thoroughly process Long Form applications,” and fired back at stakeholders’ calling for public review RDOF winners’ long-form applications, stating “[t]here is no reason to believe that upset competitors will need to “help” the FCC do their due diligence and ensure RDOF program compliance.”

Finally, LTD’s CEO, Corey Hauer, provided the following perspective on LTD’s success in the RDOF auction:

Hauer explained that, for RDOF, LTD elected to bid in areas proximate to its existing CAF‐supported and non‐supported areas of its network, and other rural areas where it had local knowledge of terrain, demographic and other features. He added that rural areas do not present the same challenges of deploying fiber because of the lack of in‐ground infrastructure such as gas lines, electric lines and sewer lines that can complicate and add cost to fiber trenching. Mr. Hauer indicated that LTD would be hiring and training hundreds of construction workers to build a labor force capable of meeting LTD’s RDOF buildout commitments, and would be supplementing RDOF support with significant capital investment.

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