CAF II Broadband Auction Should Be a Success Even if Some Areas Are Unserved, Mattey Says
The Connect America Fund Phase II subsidy auction should be successful, even though questions remain about who will participate and what areas will be served, said consultant Carol Mattey, a former Wireline Bureau deputy chief, noting FCC draft CAF II…
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items planned for a Jan. 30 vote (see 1801090050). Some areas probably won't get bids from local providers and "the extent of incumbent telco, cable and satellite participation remains a wild card," she wrote in a Benton Foundation blog Wednesday that sought to define success in the CAF II fixed-broadband reverse auction to begin July 24. "It is inevitable that some areas may have a bidder that doesn’t win, and other areas will have no bidder at all," she wrote. "The sum of the reserve prices for eligible areas is more than three times the auction budget, with bidders essentially placing bids that will result in lower and lower amounts in each successive round. Once the sum of bids equals the auction budget, the auction is likely to be largely over, with only limited bidding to resolve the remaining subset of areas where there are multiple bidders." If some areas end up with no winning bidder, she said, that doesn't mean the auction failed. "No matter what happens in the Phase II auction, it should be viewed as a success because it will help the FCC refine its thinking on how best to award USF subsidies to serve these rural areas," she wrote. The FCC in 2011 expected to have a Phase III auction by 2019 and is also eyeing a remote areas fund auction, she said, though its plans haven't been set.