From Last Call newsblog
By Peter Schorsch
December 30, 2020
The Federal Communications Commission has awarded $191 million to Florida internet providers to expand their infrastructure to pockets of rural Florida.
The award was announced Monday by Florida Internet & Television, a trade association representing many of the state’s largest internet providers.
“Florida’s cable providers are dedicated to increasing internet accessibility, especially during this time when many are working from home, running their business and attending school online,” said FIT President and CEO Brad Swanson.
The funding was awarded through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), a program established in January to expand high-speed, low-latency broadband networks into unserved rural areas.
Through RDOF, the FCC will direct up to $20.4 billion over 10 years to finance broadband internet expansions.
The first phase targets census blocks where there are no providers offering connections faster than 25 megabits per second, which equates to about 3.125 megabytes a second — speedy enough to watch high definition video on Netflix or YouTube.
FCC will distribute $16 billion nationwide during Phase One.
In Phase Two, RDOF will target areas where only some residents can get 25 Mbps connections. There is not yet an estimated start date for Phase Rwo.
FIT said federal money augments the already substantial investments made by Florida ISPs in recent years. The trade association said providers spent more than $9 billion on broadband infrastructure in the past decade.