The following article was published by Light Reading:
This latest filing from the RDOF coalition comes in response to an FCC request for comment on a proposal to allow winners a short period of time to relinquish their awarded RDOF and Connect America Fund II (CAF II) locations in order to make more locations available for the much larger BEAD program.
That request for amnesty, with limited penalties, was put forth in a letter last month, signed by a group of 69 broadband advocates and stakeholders. Citing the coalition of RDOF winners' petition for relief that was filed in 2023, the letter warned of the potential for providers to default on RDOF locations too late for those locations to still be eligible for BEAD. In turn, it asked the FCC to grant a limited amnesty period for providers to release RDOF/CAF II locations, "or otherwise provide a mechanism for relinquishment that ensures that thousands of communities across rural America are not disconnected from the benefits of reliable and affordable broadband Internet."
The FCC then issued a request for public comment on that proposal. Initial comments are due today (March 26), with reply comments due April 9.
The full article is available here.