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If you read the rules carefully, it does not require fiber all the way to the home, so of course the telcos will use HDSL, ADSL etc. for the last kilometer. The

If you read the rules carefully, it does not require fiber all the way to the home, so of course the telcos will use HDSL, ADSL etc. for the last kilometer. They lobbied hard for the 25Mbps broadband definition so that they can use the old copper plant. 25/3 is pretty easy to do with bonded DSL and they have plenty of pairs. I would not expect them to do a log of new build, most likely some fiber to a hut perhaps and then bDSL from there to the customer. Even doing it that way they will need subsidies for that to be profitable at the $30 price point. Cost to build in rural is a lot less than urban but there are more customers in urban, so rural needs government support for anyone to do it profitably.

wmf 6y ago
Everwhere I've read said that if you bid on gigabit it has to be gigabit to each customer and there's a blog post linked in this thread saying that the FCC isn't even allowing gigabit DSL. Citation needed.
- zw123456 6y ago
  https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-5A1.pdf https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-5A1.pdf III A 7, "we expect bidders seeking support for the 25/3 Mbps tier will win support only in areas where higher speeds are not economical, and that a five-year term .." support for rural telcos IMO
  - octoberfranklin 6y ago
    > the 25/3 Mbps tier That's not the gigabit tier. Read it again, paragraph 39 (it's a nice table). Then look at the map. Hardly any money went to the "minimum tier" you're referring to (25/3).
    - zw123456 6y ago
      they have the option of dropping to the low tier if the costs are too high
      - octoberfranklin 6y ago
        Um no, they don't. That is called defaulting. There is an entire section about how the FCC claws back all the money and then some more for penalties.
octoberfranklin 6y ago
> If you read the rules carefully, it does not require fiber all the way to the home, It does for the gigabit tier.

wmf 6y ago

Everwhere I've read said that if you bid on gigabit it has to be gigabit to each customer and there's a blog post linked in this thread saying that the FCC isn't even allowing gigabit DSL. Citation needed.

zw123456 6y ago
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-5A1.pdf https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-5A1.pdf III A 7, "we expect bidders seeking support for the 25/3 Mbps tier will win support only in areas where higher speeds are not economical, and that a five-year term .." support for rural telcos IMO
- octoberfranklin 6y ago
  > the 25/3 Mbps tier That's not the gigabit tier. Read it again, paragraph 39 (it's a nice table). Then look at the map. Hardly any money went to the "minimum tier" you're referring to (25/3).
  - zw123456 6y ago
    they have the option of dropping to the low tier if the costs are too high
    - octoberfranklin 6y ago
      Um no, they don't. That is called defaulting. There is an entire section about how the FCC claws back all the money and then some more for penalties.

octoberfranklin 6y ago

> If you read the rules carefully, it does not require fiber all the way to the home, It does for the gigabit tier.