Delgado Increases The Pressure On FCC Over NYS Broadband Funding
Submitted by the Office of Representative Antonio Delgado
U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado penned a second letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai following a phone conversation the two had last week. At issue is an FCC decision to make New York ineligible for $16 billion in broadband funding through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). In addition to his phone call with Chairman Pai, Rep. Delgado signed a bipartisan letter along with 22 New York delegation members calling on the FCC to reverse its decision. In his follow-up letter sent today, Rep. Delgado challenges the Chairman’s justification for this exclusion and again urges reversal of its decision before the final commission vote on January 30.
The letter begins, “As I expressed on the phone, I am deeply disappointed by the inclusion of Footnote 27 in the FCC’s draft order, as the exclusion of New York will undoubtedly increase the digital divide and unfairly punish communities that meet RDOF’s minimum eligibility standards.” The Congressman later explains that the FCC’s inclusion of this footnote will leave tens of thousands of homes without consistent, high-speed broadband service and articulates why the Chairman’s stated concerns will continue to leave rural communities underserved.
The Congressman’s letter concludes, “There is no reason these communities and any others that may meet the FCC’s stated eligibility criteria should be blocked from Phase I of RDOF, which constitutes $16 billion of the program’s $20.4 billion in funding. I cannot overstate the impact this decision would have on our state – I constantly hear from small businesses, family farmers, healthcare providers, schools and countless others in my district about the urgent need for broadband service upstate. Thank you for your attention to this matter and I ask that you reply before the Commission proceeds with a vote on the RDOF rollout on January 30. I look forward to your prompt and detailed response.”