California Seen Likely to Receive Much Less Than Potential $476 Million in CAF II Auction
California probably will get "a lot less" than the $476 million in USF support it could receive (over 10 years) under the FCC's Connect America Fund Phase II subsidy auction for fixed broadband and voice services starting July 24, blogged…
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Tellus Venture Associates President Steve Blum Monday. He said participants will bid against a "reserve price" setting the maximum the FCC would pay for 10/1 Mbps service in mostly rural unserved areas: "The FCC has a total of $2 billion to hand out, against a nationwide reserve price total of $6 billion. Presumably, the reverse auction will bring that $6 billion total down, but it’s unlikely, to say the least, to go as low as $2 billion. So some, maybe most, eligible communities will be out of luck." Blum emailed us that "there's nothing unique" about the state's prospects: "Areas that have denser populations and less scattering of eligible census blocks will be more attractive to bidders. The states where ILECs have declined CAF-2 subsidies in the last round will have an advantage."