FCC to expand broadband access to north rural Florida communities

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The Federal Communications Commission has announced that about 325,000 Floridians will gain access to high-speed broadband through their Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction.

In auction results released Monday, $191,753,609.90 was allocated to expand broadband to 141,625 unserved rural northern Florida homes and businesses over the next 10 years.

Nearly all Florida counties that were eligible for the auction will be receiving access to broadband with speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps, with 75 percent getting gigabit-speed broadband.

“This historic auction is great news for the residents of so many rural Florida communities, who will get access to high-quality broadband service in areas that for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, says. “We structured this innovative and groundbreaking auction to prioritize bids for high-speed, low-latency services to deliver the best results for rural Americans, and the results show that this strategy worked.”

According to the press release, this most recent auction was the FCC’s “single largest step ever taken toward delivering digital opportunity to every American.”

The following counties in our area received funding:

• Gadsden: 159 locations, $272,540
• Wakulla: 1,085 locations, $2,122,385
• Leon: 1,487 locations, $2,442,805
• Taylor, 3,235 locations, $4,074,640
• Madison: 3,196 locations, $8,725,259
• Jefferson: 3,166 locations, $5,553,720
• Hamilton: 885 locations, $3,044,664
• Lafayette: 1,006 locations, $4,021,540
• Suwannee: 2,538 locations, $4,405,635

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