FCC under fire from senators over rural broadband funding limitations

The Federal Communications Commission’s latest plan to expand high-speed internet access across the country has come under criticism by members of Congress who fear over $20 billion in funding might not make it to the communities that need it most.

On Tuesday, two dozen senators — Republicans and Democrats — wrote to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai denouncing the agency’s new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, or RDOF. This new program would establish a $20.4 billion fund to bring high-speed broadband access to rural homes and businesses that are currently going without. According to the senators, however, that money won’t be made available to communities that have already been awarded funding through the US Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect...

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