The Top 10 RDOF Winners from the Phase I Auction
With the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund now in the long-form evaluation phase and its winners announced, the eyes of the industry are on the biggest beneficiaries of the fund, and how they will utilize the funding to provide the services promised.
Currently, the hopes of the FCC are that the organizations that secured support under the program are able to perform and lead this massive expansion of broadband coverage across the United States. While some seemed to fit the bill, such as the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium and Frontier, others were complete surprises, specifically SpaceX, the emergence of which remains controversial, particularly among non-winners.
Here are the 10 biggest winners of RDOF.
Winnings: $1.595 billion
Category: Wireless Internet Service Provider
By far the biggest winner of the group, the company provides fixed wireless Internet to around 1.6 million people across the United States, primarily in the midwestern states including Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
Winnings: $1.3 billion
Category: Cable Service Provider
As the second biggest winner of RDOF Phase I, Charter is also the second-largest cable operator in the US, the third largest pay-TV operator, and the fifth largest telephone provider. With over 26 million customers in 41 states, Charter is the biggest of the telecom giants among the top 10 winners.
3. Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium
Winnings: $1.1 billion
Category: Consortium
As the RDOF’s largest bidding consortium, the RECC won more states and funds than any other consortium in addition to being the third-highest recipient of Phase I. Having previously won the Connect America Fund II, the RECC plans to deploy 100% fiber networks.
4. SpaceX (Starlink)
Winnings: $886 million
Category: Satellite Internet Provider
Best known as the space exploration company from Elon Musk, SpaceX won RDOF funding through its Starlink program, a low orbit satellite Internet service provider. Initially, the FCC declined the company’s bid, but once Starlink’s beta program arrived in late 2020, FCC changed its mind.
Winnings: $523 million
Category: Large Telecom Company
Windstream is an established telecom company with big presence throughout the Midwest and the South, with their largest coverage area being Michigan.
Winnings: $429 million
Category: Wireless Internet Service Provider
Nextlink is a fixed wireless Internet provider that primarily serves under-served areas, which certainly includes the rural sector. They provide service throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa & Illinois.
Winnings: $371 million
Category: Large Telecom Company
Frontier is currently the eighth-largest provider of broadband internet in the United States, and it has a firm hold on serving rural areas as well as smaller communities.
Winnings: $311 million
Category: Wireless Internet Service Provider
Resound Networks is a wireless internet service provider based in Texas and serves Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
Winnings: $269 million
Category: Wireless Internet Service Provider
Starry is a fixed wireless provider startup from Chet Kanojia, who founded Aereo before, which was a company that tried to stream TV stations online. Initially, Starry focused on urban areas, but with the RDOF fund, it seems to be shifting its strategy toward rural areas.
Winnings: $262 million
Category: Large Telecom Company
As part of the telecommunications conglomerate Lumen Technologies, CenturyLink provides high-speed internet services with focus on fiber-based infrastructure.