Ajit Pai’s “surprise” change makes it harder to get FCC broadband funding

Enlarge / Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, during an interview in New York, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

After deciding to shut New York and Alaska out of a rural broadband fund, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has made another change that could reduce or eliminate funding available for ISPs in other US states.

When the FCC yesterday approved the $20.4-billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), the order contained a new provision that bans funding for areas already receiving money from any similar federal or state broadband-subsidy program. The new provision is so vague and expansive that it could affect areas in dozens of states or exclude some states from receiving money entirely, according to Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.

"Based on my initial research, that means that the nearly 30 states that fund rural broadband through their own programs may find their eligibility reduced or eliminated," Starks said before yesterday's vote. "These provisions discourage badly needed state-federal partnerships, risk unequal application of the rules between states, and create an unnecessary risk of litigation."

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