WEBVTT

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<v Peter>Thank you, Rob, if
you could get us started?</v>

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Director Osborn is on.

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<v ->Thank you. Good morning.</v>

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My name is Robert
Osborn and I'm the Director

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of the Communications Division

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at the California Public
Utilities Commission.

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Thank you for joining
today's FCC webinar

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on the Rural Digital Opportunity
Fund also known RDOF.

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Today FCC's Michael
Janson will be presenting

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an overview of the RDOF reverse auction,

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the steps needed to participate in it.

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I want to thank Michael for making time

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in his busy schedule
to provide this overview.

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Thank you also to Robert
Stanford in our IT department

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for making the webinar possible and also

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to Peter Pratt and Alex
Abramson for organizing it.

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RDOF represents a huge
opportunity for California

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to get federal dollars to
close the digital divide.

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California has over
475,000 eligible locations,

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which is the largest number, state.

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Now I would like to invite
Commissioner Guzman Aceves

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to make some opening remarks.

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She has been a champion in closing

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the digital divide in
unserved parts of California.

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And we're so happy
to have her here today.

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Commissioner.

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<v ->Thank you, Director Osborne.</v>

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And thank you also to your staff,

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Peter and Alex for making this happen.

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And Robert and, there in San Francisco.

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I'm very thankful for Michael Janson

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for being here with us today and the FCC

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really taking the time to make sure

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that California is
prepared for this auction.

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I really had the opportunity to talk

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to some of our colleagues
throughout the nation yesterday.

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And we really are looking
for the best way to partner.

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I think here in California, as you know,

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our builds are more expensive and

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we really are looking
for guidance today.

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And following up from
today with your team Michael,

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on how we can partner with the FCC.

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This question of partnership is one

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that we met with FCC Commissioners on

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and has been continuing the dialogue.

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But I think we're now at
a point where we really

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need to understand how you envision

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that partnership best working.

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And secondly, I obviously, we are still

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in the midst of figuring out these

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areas of opportunity and
the amount of challenges

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that came through through the incumbents

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was really a concern
and in particularly just

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in the timing of preparing
for these applications.

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I know that our team
here has been working hard

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and has a map for the applicants

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to really look at these opportunities.

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And we are concerned about the timing

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for our future applicants to know

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if these are continued opportunities.

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So we would love some guidance
from you on how we can help,

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if you are considering any challenges,

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how we can help remedy
and confirm those areas

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at the state side with
some of our resources,

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to be able to do that with you.

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So, anyway, overall,
I'm very happy again

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that you're here, Michael,
to give us this guidance,

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we really do want to partner and,

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and I really look forward
to the dialogue today.

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Thank you.

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<v ->Good morning.</v>

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I am Peter Pratt from the
Communications Division as well.

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Thank you so much Commissioner
for your introductory remarks

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following Rob this morning
and for your leadership

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all the way back through the many months

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we've been working
on this federal program,

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it was a pleasure supporting you

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as you went to see the FCC in February

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when several of us were
in the Capital as well.

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And here we are a day after
the final procedures were voted

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by the voting meeting of
FCC yesterday morning.

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So in that regard, I just
wanted to briefly mention

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to the many folks that we
have calling in and on WebEx,

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you can ask questions at
any time through WebEx Chat.

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You can queue up over
the Verizon conference lines,

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which we will introduce

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after Director Janson finishes

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his 35 to 40 minutes slideshow.

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We also have a brand new group email

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that we will be monitoring
here in San Francisco

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for any of your questions.

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And that is simply
federalbroadbandfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

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We look forward to your questions.

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And with that, I would like
to say that Michael Janson,

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our guest this morning is the Director

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of the Federal Communication Commission,

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Rural Broadband Auction Task Force.

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That's quite a mouthful,

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but he is the lead person managing this

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now $20.4 billion program of the

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Federal Communications Commission.

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Michael had the distinct
honor yesterday morning

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of presenting the final RDOF Procedures

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to the full Commission.

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And Michael will leave out the fact

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that Chairman Pie remarked
that you were better dressed

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than the chairman was at the time.

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But in any case, Michael
is greatly experienced

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in federal
telecommunications, regulatory

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and funding matters.

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He has been fully supportive
of California's efforts

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of everything that
Commissioner and her colleagues

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have done here over many months.

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It was a pleasure meeting
him in February in Washington.

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And with that, I would
ask the technicians

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to bring up Director Michael Janson

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and his slide presentation

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from the nation's Capital.

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Thank you, Michael.

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<v Micheal>Thank you
very much, Peter and,</v>

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have you to visit with you today.

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Can everyone see the
slide deck that I have shared?

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Okay. Thank you very much.

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I have had the good
fortune of living in California

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and working with some alumni from

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the California Attorney General's office

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on consumer protection matters.

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And I very much appreciate
the opportunity today to discuss

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with you the Rural Digital
Opportunity Fund, Phase I.

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This is a tremendous
opportunity for California,

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as well as for other states
throughout the country

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to receive funds, to
support the deployment

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of phased broadband.

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I'm going to go through
this initial slide deck,

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and then I'm going to answer questions.

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I very much appreciate
the questions and interest

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in partnership and about
the challenge process.

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I think what we had agreed
is that I would address

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those after I go through the slide deck.

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And before I start rolling
through the slide deck,

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I just want to make sure is
everyone hearing me okay.

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And can everyone see
the first slide of the day?

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Yes. Okay.

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I'm going to take those nods as a yes.

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So here we go.

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Oh, the first thing I
want to say is that for,

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Commission has rules about
making presentation to FCC staff,

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and those rules are meant
to provide transparency

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in terms of the arguments
that are being made

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to Commission staff.

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Today's presentation and
participation in today's webinar

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will not typically trigger
an ex parte requirement,

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meaning a filing in the docket.

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Today is meant to be
an opportunity for me

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to share information with
you and to take your questions.

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But if an argument wants
someone wants to make an argument

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about this proceeding or
how we should proceed,

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that should be filed in our docket,

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So that other entities
that are participating

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in this proceeding have an opportunity

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to see that such advocacy was made.

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I just heard a encouragement
to speak louder.

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So I am speaking loudly.

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I hope this is loud enough.

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And so I'm going to continue on

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and speaking as sort
of as loudly as I can,

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hopefully you'll be able
to hear me going forward.

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<v ->So.</v>

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<v ->Everybody here,
I'm looking at Peter,</v>

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and I think I'm getting a nod of him

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that this is loud enough,
so I should continue.

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Okay. The thumbs up is, is helpful.

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So the Rural Broadband
Auctions Task Force

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oversees the use of competitive
bidding that is auctions

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to award universal service support.

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The Connect America
Fund Phase II Auction

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was completed in 2018 and it awarded

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almost $1.5 billion over 10 years

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for fixed broadband and voice services.

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Rural Digital Opportunity
Fund has been adopted

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and they will award over
$20 billion over 10 years

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for fixed broadband and voice services.

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Phase I will provide up to $16 billion.

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That'll be called
Auction 904 and Phase II

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will be up to $4.4 billion

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and the remainder of the Phase I budget.

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And I'll unpack that
more as we go forward,

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but that is the contours,
the policy framework

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that has been adopted.

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The Phase I Auction is
expected to commence

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on October 29th of this year.

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Today's presentation
concerns the use of auctions

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to distribute money for fixed broadband.

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We have a separate
program for the use of auctions

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to distribute funding
for mobile broadband

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and the Commission in April adopted

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a notice of proposed
rulemaking to establish

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a 5G Fund for rural
America that would provide

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ongoing support for the
deployment of mobile broadband

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in unserved areas with
up to $9 billion available

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and up to $1 billion available
for network deployments

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that facilitate precision agriculture,

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that is in the notice of
proposed rulemaking stage.

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And it won't be the focus
of my remarks today,

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but if any entities or
stakeholders are interested

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in that proceeding,
they are welcome to file

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a comment in the docket
that has recently been opened

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up for that proceeding.

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So as Peter said, I am the Director

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of the Commission's Rural
Broadband Auctions Task Force,

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which was developed and
initiated a few years ago

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to oversee the creation
and implementation

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of these auctions.

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These are very, time consuming

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and resource intensive projects

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that draw in staff from
throughout the Commission.

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And we coordinate with
multiple bureaus and offices

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to develop these programs,
implement the details

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of these programs and to make sure

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that they continue to run on time

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and continue to move forward.

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So how did we get here?

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In 2011, the FCC adopted
what is known as the USF,

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the Universal Service
Fund Transformation Order,

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and it introduced a new funding approach

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for price-cap areas, using a cost model

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to identify the highest cost areas

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that is the most difficult to serve

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and to use competitive bidding,

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to allocate support on an ongoing basis.

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In 2014, the Commission adopted

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the Connect America Cost Model.

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And this was the cost
model that estimated

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the cost of providing
service, number of locations

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that were unserved
and the number of blocks

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that would need the support nationwide.

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We identified census blocks as high cost

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if they had costs above
a specified benchmark.

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In 2015, the Commission made an offer

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model based support based
upon that adopted cost model

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to price cap carriers,
and nine of those carriers

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accepted over $1.5
billion a year to serve

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3.6 million homes and
businesses in their study areas

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by the end of 2020.

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The next phase of this
program was that we began

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the process for implementing
the CAF Phase II Auction,

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which was a reverse auction
of support to high cost areas

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where the price cap carriers
had declined the offer,

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the offer of model based
support and certain other areas.

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We excluded areas
where carriers had already

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reported service at speeds
of over 10 down and one up

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and voice services
based upon the decision

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that those were areas
if they already had 10/1,

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they were not the most needy.

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Census blocks were aggregated
into census block groups.

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Each census block group
had its own reserve price

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and estimated number of locations.

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In the auction there was about
30,000 census block groups

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containing over 200,000 census blocks

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with almost 1 million locations.

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CAF Phase II Auction
budget was $2.15 billion.

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That means that is the amount of money

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that was available to
be won in the auction.

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The CAF Phase II Auction
completed in the summer of 2018,

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we awarded approximately
$1.5 billion in support

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to close to 700,000
locations in 45 states.

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These locations had an
initial reserve price of over

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$5 billion and so it represented

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a significant cost
savings and efficient result

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for the Commission to
be able to award support

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at a fraction of what we initially

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had estimated would it
cost to serve these areas.

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We have been authorizing
support on an ongoing basis

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since the auction concluded
and long form applications

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have been completed
and as of the middle of May,

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we have authorized $1.44 Billion

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to over 600,000 locations in 45 states.

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The Rural Digital Opportunity
Fund Framework draws upon

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the successes of the CAF II Auction.

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It will allocate up to $20
billion in support over 10 years,

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to areas that are judged to be high cost

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and that lack voice and
minimum speeds of 25/3.

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We have adopted a two
phased auction approach

00:15:03.660 --> 00:15:06.600
with Phase I which is
what Auction 904 is called

00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.840
and what we are intending to initiate

00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:10.500
in October of this year.

00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:13.258
For census blocks
that entirely lack voice

00:15:13.258 --> 00:15:18.150
and broadband service
and Phase II would address

00:15:18.150 --> 00:15:20.330
partially served census blocks,

00:15:20.330 --> 00:15:23.300
census blocks that are
unserved in the Phase I Auction

00:15:23.300 --> 00:15:26.150
and census blocks that
we identify as unserved

00:15:26.150 --> 00:15:28.750
through the new digital
opportunity data collection.

00:15:30.589 --> 00:15:34.700
Through the RDOF Auction,
we are using a multi round

00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:37.150
reverse clock auction that is similar

00:15:37.150 --> 00:15:39.647
to the CAF Phase II Auction format.

00:15:42.355 --> 00:15:45.370
For the upcoming auction,
the areas that will be eligible

00:15:45.370 --> 00:15:48.500
to be for support are all census blocks

00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:51.013
that lack voice and 25/3,

00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:54.130
except certain census blocks that have

00:15:54.130 --> 00:15:58.590
a lower cost threshold, and
they are less costly to serve.

00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:01.150
Although that cost
threshold has been modified

00:16:01.150 --> 00:16:05.810
for tribal areas and areas
where they still lack 10/1.

00:16:05.810 --> 00:16:09.480
What that effectively
means is that blocks

00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:12.760
are not eligible if they
are low cost areas,

00:16:12.760 --> 00:16:15.100
but the threshold for
being a low cost area

00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.930
has been lowered for
tribal areas and areas

00:16:17.930 --> 00:16:21.110
that lack 10/1 so that
more of those areas

00:16:21.110 --> 00:16:23.620
will be considered
eligible and potentially

00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:25.807
will win support in the, auction.

00:16:27.510 --> 00:16:29.140
Census blocks that were awarded funding

00:16:29.140 --> 00:16:32.160
in the CAF Phase II
Auction are not eligible.

00:16:32.160 --> 00:16:34.070
Census blocks that have
been awarded funding

00:16:34.070 --> 00:16:36.030
through federal or state
broadband programs

00:16:36.030 --> 00:16:39.110
to provide over 25/3 and certain

00:16:39.110 --> 00:16:40.693
rate of return service areas.

00:16:42.790 --> 00:16:45.160
The Preliminary Eligible
Areas Public Notice

00:16:45.160 --> 00:16:47.870
was released in March and had identified

00:16:47.870 --> 00:16:50.420
the preliminary eligible areas and

00:16:50.420 --> 00:16:52.993
established a limited challenge process.

00:16:54.590 --> 00:16:58.600
The Auction 904 Challenge
Process provided an opportunity

00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:01.850
to identify census blocks
that have been served

00:17:01.850 --> 00:17:05.793
with 25/3 and voice
since the June, 2019,

00:17:05.793 --> 00:17:09.690
Form 477 Filing, which
was used to create

00:17:09.690 --> 00:17:11.573
the preliminary eligible areas,

00:17:13.290 --> 00:17:15.470
an opportunity to identify areas

00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:16.690
that have been subsidized

00:17:16.690 --> 00:17:18.450
by a federal or state program

00:17:20.830 --> 00:17:22.610
where there was an
enforceable commitment

00:17:22.610 --> 00:17:26.910
to provide service of greater than 25/3,

00:17:26.910 --> 00:17:29.070
and certain rate of return carriers

00:17:29.070 --> 00:17:30.990
had an opportunity to identify areas

00:17:30.990 --> 00:17:34.010
where they would not be
able to meet USF obligations,

00:17:34.010 --> 00:17:37.323
thus making those areas
eligible for support in the auction.

00:17:39.290 --> 00:17:42.530
California, as noted previously,

00:17:42.530 --> 00:17:45.110
was the state with the most number

00:17:45.110 --> 00:17:47.280
of preliminary eligible locations

00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:49.790
that was announced in March.

00:17:49.790 --> 00:17:52.270
It was almost a half
a million locations.

00:17:52.270 --> 00:17:56.800
The exact number was 473,522.

00:17:56.800 --> 00:18:01.800
This image shows you where
those locations were distributed

00:18:02.280 --> 00:18:05.780
in California and is
available on our website.

00:18:05.780 --> 00:18:07.190
At the email address below,

00:18:07.190 --> 00:18:10.790
you can access this interactive map.

00:18:10.790 --> 00:18:13.600
You can zoom into municipalities

00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:18.080
or counties or other municipal areas.

00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:21.350
You can put in an actual
street address and zoom in,

00:18:21.350 --> 00:18:24.950
and you can see the eligibility and also

00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:28.250
the annual reserve price
that is potentially available

00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:32.650
as well as the number of
locations estimated in that area.

00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:34.760
This has been available since March,

00:18:34.760 --> 00:18:38.293
and this is currently available
at the web address below.

00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:42.390
As you can see on this chart,

00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:45.010
there is a significant
number of locations

00:18:45.010 --> 00:18:48.040
that are potentially eligible
throughout the country,

00:18:48.040 --> 00:18:49.750
close to 6 million.

00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:52.570
Although California
obviously is a standout

00:18:52.570 --> 00:18:54.470
with the most eligible locations,

00:18:54.470 --> 00:18:56.170
at least at the preliminary stage.

00:18:57.730 --> 00:18:59.990
As mentioned, the
map is available as well

00:18:59.990 --> 00:19:01.670
as the data files for download,

00:19:01.670 --> 00:19:03.990
and you can download those
and process them yourself

00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:05.990
and look at the preliminary area report.

00:19:09.510 --> 00:19:12.750
So what is the timeline for auction 904?

00:19:12.750 --> 00:19:15.900
As Peter mentioned, the Commission

00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:18.520
considered and adopted the procedures

00:19:18.520 --> 00:19:21.040
that will be used for Auction 904

00:19:21.040 --> 00:19:23.570
at the Commission's meeting yesterday.

00:19:23.570 --> 00:19:26.010
Those are the procedures
that are used for applying

00:19:26.010 --> 00:19:28.830
to participate in the
auction, to the procedures

00:19:28.830 --> 00:19:30.420
that are used for bidding in the auction

00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:32.650
and the procedures that
will be used for evaluating

00:19:32.650 --> 00:19:35.923
long form applications
for winning bidders.

00:19:36.810 --> 00:19:40.520
By June 15th, we will
release an application tutorial.

00:19:40.520 --> 00:19:43.760
This is an interactive
online tutorial that will walk

00:19:43.760 --> 00:19:46.860
potential applicants through
the process of applying

00:19:46.860 --> 00:19:48.673
to participate in this auction.

00:19:50.090 --> 00:19:55.070
Short form filing window will
open on July 1st at 12 noon,

00:19:55.070 --> 00:19:55.923
Eastern Time.

00:19:57.030 --> 00:20:00.360
Short form filing window will close on

00:20:00.360 --> 00:20:03.853
July 15th at 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time.

00:20:06.300 --> 00:20:10.600
By October 14th, we will
make a bidding tutorial available.

00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:13.090
This will be similar to
the application tutorial

00:20:13.090 --> 00:20:15.770
and that it will be an
online interactive tutorial

00:20:15.770 --> 00:20:19.580
that will walk potential bidders
through the auction process

00:20:19.580 --> 00:20:22.963
so that they understand how
to bid and compete the auction.

00:20:24.360 --> 00:20:27.640
On October 26th, we will
conduct a mock auction

00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:30.270
that will give applicants
that have been qualified

00:20:30.270 --> 00:20:33.660
to bid in the auction an
opportunity to work through

00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:38.010
and utilize and try out
the auction software

00:20:38.010 --> 00:20:41.053
so that they fully
understand how to place bids.

00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:46.023
And then on October 29th, we
will commence auction bidding.

00:20:47.520 --> 00:20:50.560
After the auction concludes,
we will release a public notice

00:20:50.560 --> 00:20:55.330
that announces that the
auction has concluded

00:20:55.330 --> 00:20:56.623
with the winning bidders.

00:20:58.040 --> 00:20:59.900
After the winning bidders
have been announced,

00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:01.860
they will be required
to file what are called

00:21:01.860 --> 00:21:04.210
long form applications.

00:21:04.210 --> 00:21:08.200
That is a deeper
dive into their financial

00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.190
and technical
qualifications to make sure

00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:12.250
that they should be receiving support.

00:21:12.250 --> 00:21:13.940
And once they receive,
they complete their

00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:16.250
long form applications,
the Commission will

00:21:16.250 --> 00:21:18.020
designate them ready to authorize.

00:21:18.020 --> 00:21:19.610
They have a few more things to do

00:21:19.610 --> 00:21:21.840
and then authorize them to, for support.

00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:24.260
And then USAC will begin
equal monthly payments

00:21:24.260 --> 00:21:26.543
for them over the 10
year term of support.

00:21:28.600 --> 00:21:30.270
And that's the funding
that is authorized

00:21:30.270 --> 00:21:31.270
for winning bidders.

00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:37.360
So how will bidding
proceed in Auction 904?

00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:40.980
It will be as CAF II was, a
descending clock auction.

00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:43.720
Each bid is a commitment
to provide service

00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:47.180
to an area at a percentage
of the reserve price.

00:21:47.180 --> 00:21:51.030
Clock is denominated
in terms of a percentage.

00:21:51.030 --> 00:21:54.110
Percentage decreases in each round

00:21:54.110 --> 00:21:56.530
and to determine the
implied support amounts,

00:21:56.530 --> 00:21:58.750
you have to follow
a formula that it is in

00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:02.940
the Procedure's PN, but
it is a pre-bid percentage

00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:06.930
that is adjusted based upon
the performance tier and latency

00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.420
that the applicant or
the bidder is bidding on

00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:11.693
and multiplied by the
area's reserve price.

00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:15.430
Each performance tier
and latency combination

00:22:15.430 --> 00:22:18.770
has its own adjustment
weight and the service

00:22:18.770 --> 00:22:20.710
that is provided by
winning bidders must meet

00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:23.313
those minimum performance
and latency requirements.

00:22:26.030 --> 00:22:30.600
The Commission had to balance
a number of competing issues

00:22:30.600 --> 00:22:32.710
and priorities in the designing

00:22:32.710 --> 00:22:36.310
of the RDOF Phase I Auction.

00:22:36.310 --> 00:22:41.010
And as it did in CAF II, it
has adopted performance

00:22:41.010 --> 00:22:45.280
and latency tiers that
weight certain bids in a way

00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:46.620
that makes them more or less

00:22:46.620 --> 00:22:49.443
comparative, rather competitive,
compared to other bids.

00:22:50.350 --> 00:22:53.740
The auction is technologically neutral,

00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:57.570
but bids that offer faster
speeds and lower latency

00:22:57.570 --> 00:23:00.070
are more competitive in the auction

00:23:00.070 --> 00:23:03.170
and bids that offer gigabit
service with low latency

00:23:03.170 --> 00:23:05.100
are the most competitive in the auction,

00:23:05.100 --> 00:23:08.920
because they are not
weighted down by the weights

00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:12.140
that apply to bids that
offer either above baseline,

00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:16.453
baseline, or minimum speeds
or high latency services.

00:23:17.610 --> 00:23:19.510
As you can see the
performance tiers come

00:23:19.510 --> 00:23:22.810
with a speed requirement,
as well as a usage allowance,

00:23:22.810 --> 00:23:26.423
the latency requirement
comes with latency requirements.

00:23:29.360 --> 00:23:32.300
So how does Auction 904 clear?

00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:33.820
And how does it close?

00:23:33.820 --> 00:23:36.890
Well, the auction clears
once the aggregate bids

00:23:38.210 --> 00:23:40.920
are within the budget,
that is once there is

00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.290
a potential equilibrium
between the demand for money

00:23:44.290 --> 00:23:46.927
and the supply of money
such that the budget,

00:23:46.927 --> 00:23:50.813
$16 billion could be used
to cover all of the bids

00:23:50.813 --> 00:23:52.993
that is the demands for funds,

00:23:53.884 --> 00:23:55.790
but the auction does not necessarily

00:23:55.790 --> 00:23:57.393
conclude at the clearing round.

00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:03.450
The support will be awarded
to, in the clearing round,

00:24:03.730 --> 00:24:08.200
to bidders that have
the lowest T+L weight,

00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:10.500
if there is only one bidder bidding

00:24:10.500 --> 00:24:13.580
at the lowest T+L weight
in that particular area

00:24:13.580 --> 00:24:16.750
at the clearing round,
if there is competition

00:24:16.750 --> 00:24:19.040
between bidders that are bidding

00:24:19.040 --> 00:24:23.970
for the same T+L weight,
then competition can continue.

00:24:23.970 --> 00:24:25.360
So there is an auction clearing,

00:24:25.360 --> 00:24:27.980
which is the moment at which
the auction could conclude.

00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:29.550
And then there is an auction closing,

00:24:29.550 --> 00:24:31.680
which is after the budget clears,

00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.690
after we've reached that equilibrium,

00:24:33.690 --> 00:24:35.500
potential equilibrium between the demand

00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:36.900
and supply for funds.

00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:41.410
And after all intra-area
competition has been resolved,

00:24:41.410 --> 00:24:43.690
then the auction will close.

00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:45.870
And that's an important
point because even though

00:24:45.870 --> 00:24:48.170
the budget for the
auction of $16 billion,

00:24:48.170 --> 00:24:51.640
that does not mean that the
auction will award $16 billion.

00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:55.960
It potentially could award a
number less than $16 billion

00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:58.933
based upon the continuation
of inter-area competition.

00:25:00.730 --> 00:25:03.940
So what are the service
obligations for winning bidders?

00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:07.280
They have to deploy service
through the number of locations,

00:25:07.280 --> 00:25:11.840
one on a statewide
basis, there are mandatory

00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:13.970
deployment milestones and there also

00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:16.240
an optional deployment milestone.

00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:18.600
They have to provide
service to a hundred percent

00:25:18.600 --> 00:25:21.190
of the locations that are
estimated by the cost model,

00:25:21.190 --> 00:25:24.400
by year six and a hundred
percent of the actual locations

00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:25.763
by year eight.

00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.280
There is mandatory
reporting on progress.

00:25:30.280 --> 00:25:32.770
The Commission will
monitor and make sure

00:25:32.770 --> 00:25:34.720
that any winning bidder
that receives support

00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.410
is doing what it was supposed to do

00:25:36.410 --> 00:25:38.500
in terms of building
out to these locations,

00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:40.823
deploying service at the required level.

00:25:42.650 --> 00:25:45.410
Rates charged must be
reasonably comparable

00:25:45.410 --> 00:25:49.623
to rates that are offered,
similar services in urban areas.

00:25:51.730 --> 00:25:55.610
So how does Auction 904
compare to the CAF Phase II Auction

00:25:55.610 --> 00:25:59.090
that we completed in the summer of 2018?

00:25:59.090 --> 00:26:01.680
Well, the two-step
auction application process

00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:03.760
is largely the same
and it's very similar

00:26:03.760 --> 00:26:05.720
to the two step process
that the Commission

00:26:05.720 --> 00:26:08.870
has used in spectrum
auctions for many, many years.

00:26:08.870 --> 00:26:10.930
There was a short
form application process

00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.710
that you have to go
through to be qualified,

00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:15.340
to bid in the auction.

00:26:15.340 --> 00:26:17.420
And then there is a long form process

00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:20.813
for winning bidders to
be authorized for support.

00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:25.790
The per-location
funding threshold is lower

00:26:25.790 --> 00:26:28.540
than CAF Phase II,
meaning that we are bringing

00:26:28.540 --> 00:26:31.540
more areas into the auction,
even though we estimate

00:26:31.540 --> 00:26:34.850
the cost of serving them
as lower than we did,

00:26:34.850 --> 00:26:38.360
lower than the threshold
was for CAF Phase II.

00:26:38.360 --> 00:26:42.140
We have an even lower cost
threshold for tribal areas and

00:26:42.140 --> 00:26:45.000
areas lacking 10/1, which
means more of those areas

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:47.140
are potentially eligible for support

00:26:47.140 --> 00:26:49.670
and more of those eligible
areas could win support

00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:54.270
in this auction and the
per-location support cap,

00:26:54.270 --> 00:26:57.273
meaning the total amount of
money that could be provided

00:26:57.273 --> 00:27:01.100
is higher than it was in CAF
Phase II, and we've increased

00:27:01.100 --> 00:27:04.670
it even further for tribal
areas and areas lacking 10/1,

00:27:04.670 --> 00:27:07.180
meaning those areas
have an opportunity to win

00:27:07.180 --> 00:27:12.043
even more support than
other locations in this auction.

00:27:13.060 --> 00:27:14.930
And then the other
thing that is different

00:27:14.930 --> 00:27:18.560
is that we have adopted a
preference for faster speeds

00:27:18.560 --> 00:27:21.470
and lower latencies
in the clearing round,

00:27:21.470 --> 00:27:24.870
such that we could award
support in the clearing round,

00:27:24.870 --> 00:27:29.494
where there's only one
bidder at the lowest T+L weight.

00:27:29.494 --> 00:27:32.420
Whereas in CAF Phase II that competition

00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:35.260
would have continued
between bidders offering

00:27:35.260 --> 00:27:38.633
different T+L weights even
after the clearing round.

00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:42.540
So if you are an
entity that is interested

00:27:42.540 --> 00:27:45.010
in participating in Auction 904,

00:27:45.010 --> 00:27:48.020
I cannot emphasize
enough that you should be

00:27:48.020 --> 00:27:53.020
preparing now to apply for the auction.

00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:57.200
You do not have very
much more time to get ready

00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.500
to submit your application.

00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:01.240
The application window is expected,

00:28:01.240 --> 00:28:04.813
will open on July 1st
and close on July 15th.

00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:08.920
Late applications can not be accepted

00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:11.050
in order to maintain auction integrity.

00:28:11.050 --> 00:28:13.630
We have had in the past
some unfortunate cases

00:28:13.630 --> 00:28:17.480
of applicants getting
their applications in

00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:21.210
not long after the deadline has closed,

00:28:21.210 --> 00:28:24.670
and we cannot accept those applications.

00:28:24.670 --> 00:28:26.950
If you are interested in
participating in this auction,

00:28:26.950 --> 00:28:29.970
you should be preparing now
to complete the application.

00:28:29.970 --> 00:28:34.620
You should get your answers,
answers to your questions now,

00:28:34.620 --> 00:28:36.310
and you should submit your application

00:28:36.310 --> 00:28:40.690
with plenty of time to spare,
meaning not on the last day

00:28:40.690 --> 00:28:44.180
in case you have any
technical difficulties in applying,

00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:47.623
because we cannot accept
late applications to this auction.

00:28:48.840 --> 00:28:51.420
The process for
participating in Auction 904

00:28:51.420 --> 00:28:53.180
is very similar to the process

00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:55.580
for participating in Auction 903.

00:28:55.580 --> 00:28:59.610
We are continuing to roll
out educational materials

00:28:59.610 --> 00:29:02.510
and more of those will
be coming for Auction 904.

00:29:02.510 --> 00:29:04.630
But in the meantime,
anyone that is interested

00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:08.580
in participating in this auction
can go on the FCC website

00:29:08.580 --> 00:29:10.720
and go through the educational materials

00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.290
for Auction 903, that is CAF Phase II

00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:16.070
and read through all of the materials

00:29:16.070 --> 00:29:17.120
that were provided to get ready,

00:29:17.120 --> 00:29:18.553
to apply for CAF Phase II.

00:29:19.410 --> 00:29:22.200
You can look at the
instructions for filling

00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:24.640
the short form application
for CAF Phase II,

00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:27.360
the application tutorial,
which is the interactive video

00:29:27.360 --> 00:29:28.770
that I mentioned before.

00:29:28.770 --> 00:29:31.120
The checklist of
information that is required

00:29:31.120 --> 00:29:32.700
to complete the application.

00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:34.650
And we even have a live workshop

00:29:34.650 --> 00:29:38.100
that you could watch in terms
of how to apply for CAF II.

00:29:38.100 --> 00:29:40.970
There are some
differences for Auction 904

00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:43.770
that will be made clear in the materials

00:29:43.770 --> 00:29:47.280
that we release soon,
but much of it is the same.

00:29:47.280 --> 00:29:49.130
And if you are unfamiliar
with this process,

00:29:49.130 --> 00:29:51.301
or you did not participate
in CAF Phase II,

00:29:51.301 --> 00:29:54.090
you will learn a lot about this process

00:29:54.090 --> 00:29:56.823
by reviewing the Auction 903 material.

00:29:58.970 --> 00:30:02.550
So if you were interested
in applying for Auction 904,

00:30:02.550 --> 00:30:04.400
I'm going to be a
little repetitive here,

00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:07.170
but I'll say it again,
late applications will not

00:30:07.170 --> 00:30:11.023
be accepted and you should
be preparing to apply now.

00:30:12.170 --> 00:30:14.160
If you submit us a
short form application,

00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.450
it does not obligate
you to enter the auction,

00:30:17.450 --> 00:30:20.820
to bid on the auction
or to provide services.

00:30:20.820 --> 00:30:24.890
It is just the necessary step
that you must take if you are

00:30:24.890 --> 00:30:28.727
interested in being qualified
to participate in the auction.

00:30:28.727 --> 00:30:32.130
And so if you are still
determining internally,

00:30:32.130 --> 00:30:34.100
whether or not you want
to compete in this process,

00:30:34.100 --> 00:30:36.130
it behooves you to get ready to apply

00:30:36.130 --> 00:30:38.650
and to apply that you have the ability

00:30:38.650 --> 00:30:40.610
to participate in the auction

00:30:40.610 --> 00:30:43.260
if you choose that you want to do so.

00:30:43.260 --> 00:30:45.160
To complete the short form application

00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:47.701
you have to submit
financial information,

00:30:47.701 --> 00:30:51.668
ownership information,
technical information,

00:30:51.668 --> 00:30:54.990
and information detailing
the previous provision

00:30:54.990 --> 00:30:57.883
of telecommunication
services, if applicable.

00:30:59.700 --> 00:31:01.450
So what does that mean specifically?

00:31:01.450 --> 00:31:04.080
Required financial information includes

00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:05.630
financial statements.

00:31:05.630 --> 00:31:07.640
There are different
requirements for different types

00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:10.200
of entities, but you
have to prepare to submit

00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:12.390
your financial statements
so that we can evaluate

00:31:12.390 --> 00:31:14.680
whether or not you should be qualified

00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:16.343
to participate in the auction.

00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:20.870
There are different
requirements for different types

00:31:20.870 --> 00:31:23.950
of entities and if you are
a provider of electricity,

00:31:23.950 --> 00:31:25.580
then you have a different
set of requirements

00:31:25.580 --> 00:31:28.203
that are detailed in the
procedure's public notice.

00:31:30.590 --> 00:31:32.810
If you have not been
operating, then you will need

00:31:32.810 --> 00:31:35.700
to submit a letter of
interest from a qualified bank.

00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:39.600
This program is designed
to be open to new entrants

00:31:39.600 --> 00:31:41.460
and to entrants that have not provided

00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:43.600
telecommunication services in the past.

00:31:43.600 --> 00:31:46.540
And these two provisions
that I just showed,

00:31:46.540 --> 00:31:49.180
show you how you can
participate in this process,

00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:51.460
be qualified to participate
in the auction if you

00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:53.660
have not been a
telecommunications provider.

00:31:56.130 --> 00:31:58.730
Technical information is
required of all applicants,

00:31:59.577 --> 00:32:02.460
applicants have to indicate
which state they intend

00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:06.750
to bid on, which performance
tier they intend to bid on

00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:09.930
in terms of the speed and
the latency and the technology

00:32:09.930 --> 00:32:12.160
that they intend to
use to provide service

00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.140
at that level of performance.

00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:16.210
If you're planning to
use wireless technology,

00:32:16.210 --> 00:32:18.270
then you have to detail
the spectrum bands

00:32:18.270 --> 00:32:21.320
and the bandwidth
that you have access to.

00:32:21.320 --> 00:32:23.740
And you have to answer all
of the questions that are listed

00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:27.250
in appendix A of the Auction
Procedures Public Notice,

00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:30.350
a draft of which was
released over three weeks ago

00:32:30.350 --> 00:32:33.423
and the final version of
which will be released soon.

00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.824
You also have to submit
ownership information

00:32:37.824 --> 00:32:39.760
that would indicate the applicant's name

00:32:39.760 --> 00:32:42.300
and legal classification,
which individuals

00:32:42.300 --> 00:32:45.630
are points of contact,
communicate with Commission staff

00:32:45.630 --> 00:32:48.080
and all parties,
including non applicants,

00:32:48.080 --> 00:32:50.240
which the applicant
has any agreements with

00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:52.990
regarding the applicant's
participation in the auction.

00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:56.700
The individuals and entities
with an ownership interest,

00:32:56.700 --> 00:32:59.100
whether direct or
indirect in the applicant

00:32:59.100 --> 00:33:01.230
and any FCC regulated
businesses in which

00:33:01.230 --> 00:33:03.233
the applicant has a direct interest.

00:33:04.750 --> 00:33:06.930
There's also additional
required information

00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:09.423
that is detailed in the
Auction Procedures PN,

00:33:11.130 --> 00:33:14.150
certain certifications,
certain identifying numbers

00:33:14.150 --> 00:33:16.510
and certain specifications
that are detailed

00:33:16.510 --> 00:33:18.863
in the Auction Procedures Notice.

00:33:20.890 --> 00:33:22.880
One of the questions
that we often get is about

00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:26.070
forming a consortium, interested parties

00:33:26.070 --> 00:33:27.400
may form a consortium.

00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:31.130
A consortium is an entity
made up of multiple parties

00:33:31.130 --> 00:33:33.633
that participate in the
auction as one bidder.

00:33:34.850 --> 00:33:37.280
There are a number of
reasons why entities may

00:33:37.280 --> 00:33:39.000
want to form a consortium.

00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:43.220
They may want to
cooperate and share the costs

00:33:43.220 --> 00:33:48.220
of legal counsel or other
counsel on how to participate

00:33:48.630 --> 00:33:52.060
in the auction and a
consortium is a vehicle

00:33:52.060 --> 00:33:55.370
that allows multiple
entities to work together,

00:33:55.370 --> 00:33:57.493
to enter the auction as one bidder.

00:33:58.770 --> 00:34:01.470
When they apply at the short form stage,

00:34:01.470 --> 00:34:04.940
the consortium must choose a lead entity

00:34:04.940 --> 00:34:08.590
to be the lead on the
financial statements.

00:34:08.590 --> 00:34:12.930
All other information, ownership,
responses to appendix A,

00:34:12.930 --> 00:34:15.380
technical questions,
they all must be submitted

00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:17.230
for each member of the consortium

00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:19.540
and there must be an explanation of how

00:34:19.540 --> 00:34:22.380
the consortium's members
would plan to provide

00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:23.880
the level of service that they intend

00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:25.313
to bid on in the auction.

00:34:27.150 --> 00:34:31.440
Consortium bids as its
own, as a single entity

00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:34.020
in the auction but
then after the auction,

00:34:34.020 --> 00:34:37.500
it may divide its winning
bids among its members

00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:39.850
after the auction concludes
and that those members

00:34:39.850 --> 00:34:42.670
then become authorized
to receive support

00:34:42.670 --> 00:34:44.943
and are the providers of service.

00:34:48.040 --> 00:34:49.720
One of the other things
that we get a number

00:34:49.720 --> 00:34:51.300
of detailed questions about and which

00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:53.040
I'll touch on briefly here is the

00:34:53.040 --> 00:34:55.400
prohibited communications rule.

00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:59.450
The FCC has detailed rules
about prohibited communications

00:34:59.450 --> 00:35:02.423
that are meant to
maintain auction integrity.

00:35:03.370 --> 00:35:05.800
An auction applicant is
prohibited from communicating

00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.130
with any other applicant in any manner,

00:35:08.130 --> 00:35:10.430
the substance of its
own or one another's

00:35:13.112 --> 00:35:16.421
or any competing applicant's
bid, or bidding strategy.

00:35:16.421 --> 00:35:17.880
This applies to applicants starting

00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:21.230
at the application deadline,
whether or not they bid.

00:35:21.230 --> 00:35:24.040
And it includes the entity
submitting the application,

00:35:24.040 --> 00:35:25.990
any party with control of the entity,

00:35:25.990 --> 00:35:28.700
any party controlled
by the applicant's entity

00:35:28.700 --> 00:35:30.700
or by a party controlling the applicant.

00:35:32.150 --> 00:35:35.810
Applicants and auction
participants should be very careful

00:35:35.810 --> 00:35:39.460
with communications to third
parties that may be conduits.

00:35:39.460 --> 00:35:44.180
The two aspects of this
and maybe not intuitive,

00:35:44.180 --> 00:35:48.370
are that this does not
apply just during the auction.

00:35:48.370 --> 00:35:51.040
The prohibited
communications rule applies

00:35:51.040 --> 00:35:54.130
from the application
deadline and therefore

00:35:54.130 --> 00:35:58.990
it has a much longer quiet
period than might be expected.

00:35:58.990 --> 00:36:01.888
And also there can
be problems that arise

00:36:01.888 --> 00:36:05.170
when information is provided
advertently or inadvertently

00:36:05.170 --> 00:36:07.730
to third parties, who
then become conduits

00:36:07.730 --> 00:36:08.993
for information to other,

00:36:10.160 --> 00:36:13.000
so for some entities that
may not be familiar with this,

00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:15.650
you have any questions you
should send your questions

00:36:15.650 --> 00:36:19.480
to auction904@fcc.gov
and get any questions

00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:22.000
you have about the
prohibited communications rule

00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:23.630
answered in advance.

00:36:23.630 --> 00:36:27.080
We have had unfortunate
circumstances where entities

00:36:27.080 --> 00:36:29.940
have not advertently
meant to disclose information

00:36:29.940 --> 00:36:33.030
about the bidding strategies
but they have done so,

00:36:33.030 --> 00:36:35.990
and these are serious
violations that can result

00:36:35.990 --> 00:36:38.283
in significant penalties from the FCC.

00:36:39.290 --> 00:36:41.100
As mentioned before this applies from

00:36:41.100 --> 00:36:44.040
the application deadline and
particular care has to be made

00:36:44.040 --> 00:36:47.400
of any type of communication
to any third party

00:36:48.310 --> 00:36:50.763
that indicates the bidding strategy of,

00:36:53.380 --> 00:36:56.550
We have an additional
resources that are posted,

00:36:56.550 --> 00:37:00.570
we have a dedicated
website for Auction 904.

00:37:00.570 --> 00:37:02.340
We have an email address that is staffed

00:37:02.340 --> 00:37:06.300
by our team of experts
at auction904@fcc.gov

00:37:06.300 --> 00:37:09.040
and entities interested in
participating in this auction

00:37:09.040 --> 00:37:12.250
should not feel shy about
emailing Auction 904.

00:37:12.250 --> 00:37:15.072
We get emails daily
from some of the smallest

00:37:15.072 --> 00:37:17.450
and some of the biggest and
some of the least experienced

00:37:17.450 --> 00:37:19.610
and some of the most
experienced entities

00:37:19.610 --> 00:37:22.620
that are asking about this
process and it behooves you

00:37:22.620 --> 00:37:26.350
to ask your questions early
and so that you can make

00:37:26.350 --> 00:37:28.400
a determination of whether
or not you wanna apply

00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:30.533
and participate in this auction.

00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:35.460
We tend to try to get back to
people within the business day

00:37:35.460 --> 00:37:39.500
and so if you emailed auction904@fcc.gov

00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:40.900
that will go to our team of experts

00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:43.950
and we'll respond to
you as soon as possible.

00:37:43.950 --> 00:37:47.220
If you have more general
questions about these programs

00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:50.737
and our other efforts to
expand rural broadband,

00:37:50.737 --> 00:37:52.720
you can contact the task force

00:37:52.720 --> 00:37:56.300
itself at ruralbroadband@fcc.gov.

00:37:56.300 --> 00:38:00.530
If you are a state or
local or county level official

00:38:00.530 --> 00:38:02.240
that would like to engage our

00:38:02.240 --> 00:38:04.600
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,

00:38:04.600 --> 00:38:06.950
Gregory Cook is our Chief of the

00:38:06.950 --> 00:38:08.470
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

00:38:08.470 --> 00:38:10.760
and he's a point of contact for you.

00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:15.250
If you have interests
with regard to tribal areas

00:38:15.250 --> 00:38:18.520
or tribal providers, we have
an Office of Native Affairs

00:38:18.520 --> 00:38:21.100
and Policy that takes
point on these issues,

00:38:21.100 --> 00:38:22.630
and you're welcome to contact

00:38:22.630 --> 00:38:27.630
the chief of ONAP Matthew
Duchesne, and he will respond

00:38:27.670 --> 00:38:29.800
to you about any issues related to

00:38:29.800 --> 00:38:31.763
tribal areas or tribal providers.

00:38:34.090 --> 00:38:37.700
So that concludes my slide
deck in terms of the overview

00:38:37.700 --> 00:38:41.140
of this program and my
understanding now is that I will

00:38:41.140 --> 00:38:46.140
get questions from Peter, I
believe that I will then answer.

00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:50.330
And so I thank you for listening to this

00:38:50.330 --> 00:38:52.423
and I look forward to your engagement.

00:38:55.190 --> 00:38:56.610
<v ->Thank you so much, Michael.</v>

00:38:56.610 --> 00:39:00.190
We greatly appreciate
the detail that you went into,

00:39:00.190 --> 00:39:02.390
we're sure that it was
of great assistance

00:39:02.390 --> 00:39:05.820
to carriers and providers
around California

00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:08.760
and to the communities that are looking

00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:12.030
for this federal funding and looking

00:39:12.030 --> 00:39:15.207
for CPUC's help in doing so.

00:39:15.207 --> 00:39:17.620
We have a happy coincidence Michael,

00:39:17.620 --> 00:39:20.020
that you went through your slide deck

00:39:20.020 --> 00:39:21.410
a little faster than we thought,

00:39:21.410 --> 00:39:25.360
and that coincidence is our
Commissioner is still with us.

00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:27.860
And Michael, you heard
what the Commissioner's

00:39:27.860 --> 00:39:31.150
two lead questions were,
and with the Commissioner

00:39:31.150 --> 00:39:35.120
still here, Commissioner
Guzman Aceves could I ask you

00:39:35.120 --> 00:39:39.130
to repeat the questions
maybe in light of what you heard

00:39:39.130 --> 00:39:42.100
from Director Janson
and what did you hear

00:39:42.100 --> 00:39:45.080
from the National Governors
Association yesterday

00:39:45.080 --> 00:39:46.590
on these important topics?

00:39:46.590 --> 00:39:48.313
Thank you, Commissioner.

00:39:48.313 --> 00:39:50.130
<v ->Thank you. And thank
you again, Michael,</v>

00:39:50.130 --> 00:39:53.093
for taking the time to really
outline the process here.

00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:56.850
Really there's two questions.

00:39:56.850 --> 00:40:01.850
One is on the opportunity
to be able to really partner

00:40:03.590 --> 00:40:07.170
in these areas that are
high cost, as you know,

00:40:07.170 --> 00:40:11.260
and to have the successful ability

00:40:11.260 --> 00:40:15.590
to use the federal
funding as well as some

00:40:15.590 --> 00:40:18.170
of our more limited state funding

00:40:18.170 --> 00:40:21.170
to fill out some of these areas.

00:40:21.170 --> 00:40:23.950
And there's, there's
a multitude of ways.

00:40:23.950 --> 00:40:28.600
I think there's some maybe confusion

00:40:28.600 --> 00:40:31.430
based on my previous conversations

00:40:31.430 --> 00:40:35.030
with some of the Commissioners
and some of the prohibitions

00:40:35.030 --> 00:40:40.030
that are in the order as far
as using state commitments.

00:40:41.460 --> 00:40:43.620
And I'm not sure if
there's a distinction

00:40:43.620 --> 00:40:46.090
between things that are,
say, in a merger agreement

00:40:46.090 --> 00:40:49.653
or something else versus state funding,

00:40:50.706 --> 00:40:53.930
but one of your slides kind of outlines

00:40:53.930 --> 00:40:56.660
one of these prohibitions.

00:40:56.660 --> 00:41:00.870
So that's really one of the
areas is how can we continue

00:41:00.870 --> 00:41:05.570
to work with the FCC and still be

00:41:05.570 --> 00:41:08.700
abiding by this limitation here?

00:41:08.700 --> 00:41:11.063
Yes, thank you. That second bullet.

00:41:14.550 --> 00:41:16.190
<v ->Commissioner Goodman
Aceves, thank you</v>

00:41:16.190 --> 00:41:17.257
very much for your question.

00:41:17.257 --> 00:41:21.990
You know, I very much
appreciate California's engagement

00:41:21.990 --> 00:41:24.630
and interest in this program.

00:41:24.630 --> 00:41:26.430
And we very much want to support

00:41:26.430 --> 00:41:31.430
California's efforts
to expand broadband.

00:41:31.600 --> 00:41:34.460
<v Michael>This program that
we are administering is not</v>

00:41:34.460 --> 00:41:39.460
meant to displace or
interfere with a state efforts.

00:41:40.560 --> 00:41:44.390
It is a federal program that
provides support to the areas

00:41:44.390 --> 00:41:47.753
that we have determined
are most in need.

00:41:48.622 --> 00:41:51.140
And the universal service
programs that we have adopted

00:41:51.140 --> 00:41:53.630
have a long history
that goes back decades

00:41:53.630 --> 00:41:56.470
of trying to get our
limited funds to the areas

00:41:56.470 --> 00:42:00.350
that we have determined
are most in need.

00:42:00.350 --> 00:42:04.120
And in this particular
context, the Commission said

00:42:04.120 --> 00:42:06.720
that the areas that
we're going to focus on

00:42:06.720 --> 00:42:10.410
are the areas in which no
provider, at least in Phase I,

00:42:10.410 --> 00:42:15.410
says that it's providing
25/3 and voice services,

00:42:15.500 --> 00:42:18.700
and then areas where
there is another program

00:42:19.900 --> 00:42:24.900
that is providing support to offer 25/3

00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:29.033
would not be an area
that is most in need.

00:42:29.900 --> 00:42:33.000
And the Commission
provided an opportunity

00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:36.250
that was voluntary
for interested providers

00:42:36.250 --> 00:42:39.110
to identify such areas.

00:42:39.110 --> 00:42:43.420
And we have in our
public docket now received

00:42:43.420 --> 00:42:47.610
a number of filings that
indicate that there are areas

00:42:47.610 --> 00:42:51.900
that have received
funding or are in the process

00:42:51.900 --> 00:42:56.900
of receiving funding to offer
service at at least at 25/3.

00:42:57.070 --> 00:42:59.430
And we are working through that process

00:42:59.430 --> 00:43:01.150
and working through those challenges

00:43:01.150 --> 00:43:04.330
and we will release soon an updated list

00:43:04.330 --> 00:43:08.560
of preliminary areas that would again go

00:43:08.560 --> 00:43:10.850
with the framework that the
Commission has adopted,

00:43:10.850 --> 00:43:13.100
which is to target our limited funds

00:43:13.100 --> 00:43:15.720
at the areas that are the most in need.

00:43:15.720 --> 00:43:20.720
There are numerous
ways that states can build

00:43:20.900 --> 00:43:25.900
upon this program and
when we talked with your staff

00:43:26.060 --> 00:43:28.310
in I think at this point
it may have been

00:43:28.310 --> 00:43:31.480
January or February
when we talked with Peter,

00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:35.640
we outlined a few particular
ways that this could occur.

00:43:35.640 --> 00:43:38.350
A number of states
have thought about this

00:43:38.350 --> 00:43:39.920
and are thinking about ways in which

00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:44.810
they can provide funding
that supports deployments.

00:43:44.810 --> 00:43:48.530
The funding that we award
is not meant to displace

00:43:48.530 --> 00:43:50.040
those or to interfere with those.

00:43:50.040 --> 00:43:53.170
You certainly can provide
additional funding to those areas.

00:43:53.170 --> 00:43:55.950
You can certainly
see the auction results

00:43:55.950 --> 00:43:58.633
and see which areas
did not receive funding.

00:43:59.470 --> 00:44:01.680
And there's a number
of other potential ways

00:44:01.680 --> 00:44:04.890
that you could work with
bidders so that they understand

00:44:04.890 --> 00:44:06.920
how much support they could receive

00:44:06.920 --> 00:44:09.140
to provide service in certain areas.

00:44:09.140 --> 00:44:12.750
The one caution that I
will mention here is that

00:44:12.750 --> 00:44:16.930
it's very important that no
entity, state or otherwise,

00:44:16.930 --> 00:44:21.930
becomes a conduit of
information unwittingly or wittingly

00:44:22.060 --> 00:44:25.890
between applicants for
other bidding strategies.

00:44:25.890 --> 00:44:29.780
And so once the short form
filing deadline takes effect,

00:44:29.780 --> 00:44:32.197
it will be important that
applicants for the Auction

00:44:32.197 --> 00:44:36.200
are not transmitting
any of their information

00:44:36.200 --> 00:44:39.420
about where they intend to
bid through any third parties,

00:44:39.420 --> 00:44:41.593
including a state government.

00:44:42.900 --> 00:44:46.430
In CAF Phase II some states receive

00:44:46.430 --> 00:44:49.310
more funding than other states.

00:44:49.310 --> 00:44:52.017
And this is a competitive process.

00:44:52.017 --> 00:44:55.470
And so there are some
models that you can look at

00:44:55.470 --> 00:44:58.370
in terms of what other states
are thinking about doing,

00:44:58.370 --> 00:45:03.044
but there there are no other limitations

00:45:03.044 --> 00:45:06.650
other than the ones that
I've already articulated.

00:45:06.650 --> 00:45:10.630
There are certainly the possibility

00:45:10.630 --> 00:45:14.810
for ones that I
articulated and if you have

00:45:14.810 --> 00:45:17.175
specific questions, I
could follow up on it,

00:45:17.175 --> 00:45:21.080
there are no limitations on
who can bid in the auction.

00:45:21.080 --> 00:45:23.030
It is open to private entities,

00:45:23.030 --> 00:45:24.900
to public private partnerships,

00:45:24.900 --> 00:45:26.640
as well as potentially public entities

00:45:26.640 --> 00:45:29.670
that can otherwise qualify based upon

00:45:29.670 --> 00:45:31.570
the financial and
technical considerations

00:45:31.570 --> 00:45:33.280
that were an ownership considerations

00:45:33.280 --> 00:45:36.133
that were adopted in the
procedure's Public Notice.

00:45:37.150 --> 00:45:41.500
We are working towards
resolving the challenges

00:45:41.500 --> 00:45:44.760
as quickly as possible,
the docket is open

00:45:44.760 --> 00:45:47.430
and entities can see what
challenges have been filed,

00:45:47.430 --> 00:45:50.540
and we will hope to
release an updated list

00:45:50.540 --> 00:45:52.813
of eligible areas shortly.

00:45:56.580 --> 00:45:58.160
Michael, thank you so much for that.

00:45:58.160 --> 00:46:00.280
Commissioner, did you have any follow-on

00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:02.923
questions on Michael's responses?

00:46:04.730 --> 00:46:05.570
<v ->Well, thank you, Michael.</v>

00:46:05.570 --> 00:46:08.640
I think just to say that we appreciate

00:46:08.640 --> 00:46:10.972
the continued dialogue
and we certainly will

00:46:10.972 --> 00:46:14.440
be following up with you
on what those models,

00:46:14.440 --> 00:46:16.800
those successful models look like

00:46:18.878 --> 00:46:21.940
as we try to really line up our program

00:46:22.810 --> 00:46:27.543
to fill in around yours and
on the challenges, certainly,

00:46:29.750 --> 00:46:34.750
any guidance moving forward
on how we can help expedite

00:46:34.870 --> 00:46:39.710
any disputes on that
would also be helpful,

00:46:39.710 --> 00:46:42.460
but we can, also follow up on that.

00:46:42.460 --> 00:46:44.030
Thank you.

00:46:44.030 --> 00:46:46.680
<v ->Thank you so much,
Commissioner, and thank you</v>

00:46:46.680 --> 00:46:49.590
for those two critical
questions and again,

00:46:49.590 --> 00:46:53.170
for your leadership to
all of us at Rob's division,

00:46:53.170 --> 00:46:55.300
as we work through these issues

00:46:55.300 --> 00:46:58.560
for the benefit of
California communities.

00:46:58.560 --> 00:47:00.930
Rob, since you were directly involved,

00:47:00.930 --> 00:47:03.370
particularly in the challenges issue

00:47:03.370 --> 00:47:07.300
in sending your letter out
to Michael's Commission

00:47:07.300 --> 00:47:10.130
two or three weeks ago, do
you have any follow-on questions

00:47:10.130 --> 00:47:14.193
for for Michael in these
two important areas?

00:47:15.060 --> 00:47:17.320
<v Rob>No, I don't,
thank you, Peter.</v>

00:47:17.320 --> 00:47:18.423
<v ->Thank you, Rob.</v>

00:47:19.660 --> 00:47:24.660
With that, we have a received
a handful of questions in

00:47:25.312 --> 00:47:28.860
through our chat line, through WebEx

00:47:28.860 --> 00:47:32.090
and I will also like
to repeat the prompt.

00:47:32.090 --> 00:47:35.270
If you have called in
to us, we are pushing

00:47:35.270 --> 00:47:39.670
just under 200 attendees
now between WebEx

00:47:39.670 --> 00:47:42.780
and our Verizon conference services.

00:47:42.780 --> 00:47:45.360
If you're on the telephone,
you can summon

00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:50.360
the conference operator by
simply hitting star sign one,

00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:53.560
and then he, or she
will put you in queue

00:47:53.560 --> 00:47:56.250
and will tell us that there is a comment

00:47:56.250 --> 00:47:58.180
or a question holding.

00:47:58.180 --> 00:48:01.850
I would like to now start
with a couple of questions

00:48:01.850 --> 00:48:04.160
for you, Michael
Janson that have come in

00:48:04.160 --> 00:48:06.970
over our WebEx facility.

00:48:06.970 --> 00:48:09.835
The first one we can answer directly,

00:48:09.835 --> 00:48:12.750
will this presentation be archived?

00:48:12.750 --> 00:48:15.880
The answer is yes, and we have

00:48:15.880 --> 00:48:20.710
a special federal funding
new webpage within CPUC.

00:48:20.710 --> 00:48:23.690
We'll give that out in
Rob's closing remarks

00:48:23.690 --> 00:48:27.300
and I can give it out as we
finish with questions as well.

00:48:27.300 --> 00:48:31.350
But as soon as we can capture
that from our technical staff

00:48:31.350 --> 00:48:34.950
here in San Francisco,
we will put that online.

00:48:34.950 --> 00:48:37.210
It will be fully archived.

00:48:37.210 --> 00:48:40.440
So thank you for your question there.

00:48:40.440 --> 00:48:43.830
Number two is a question
back to you, Michael Janson,

00:48:43.830 --> 00:48:47.910
we have an interested provider asking

00:48:47.910 --> 00:48:51.120
could you explain under
the RDOF program,

00:48:51.120 --> 00:48:56.120
what does the FCC mean
by location, in specific

00:48:56.370 --> 00:49:00.390
the number of actual
households or potential subscribers

00:49:00.390 --> 00:49:03.500
usually does not match locations.

00:49:03.500 --> 00:49:08.450
For example, this provider
says a block with 200 locations.

00:49:08.450 --> 00:49:13.390
They only have say 50
structures or potential subscribers,

00:49:13.390 --> 00:49:16.650
Director Janson could
you answer a little drill down

00:49:16.650 --> 00:49:20.693
on how your Commission
defines a location for this program?

00:49:24.870 --> 00:49:27.459
<v Michael>Thank you very
much for the question.</v>

00:49:27.459 --> 00:49:30.610
And this gets at one of
the differences between

00:49:30.610 --> 00:49:34.580
the CAF II Auction and for Auction 904.

00:49:34.580 --> 00:49:39.050
So in the CAF Phase II
Auction, providers were required

00:49:39.050 --> 00:49:41.643
to provide service
to all of the locations

00:49:41.643 --> 00:49:44.890
that had been identified
through the cost model.

00:49:44.890 --> 00:49:48.350
And there was a true-up
process that was adopted

00:49:48.350 --> 00:49:51.498
to deal with the potential
increase or decrease

00:49:51.498 --> 00:49:53.930
available locations that could result

00:49:53.930 --> 00:49:57.120
in a change in the amount of
funding that would be awarded.

00:49:57.120 --> 00:50:00.210
Based upon intensive
engagement, in the record,

00:50:00.210 --> 00:50:03.740
on the RDOF Policy Framework in January,

00:50:03.740 --> 00:50:06.540
the Commission adopted
a different process

00:50:06.540 --> 00:50:09.327
and a different set of
milestones for Auction 904.

00:50:10.350 --> 00:50:15.240
In Auction 904 there
is a threshold, for two,

00:50:15.240 --> 00:50:19.700
all of the cost models, by your six,

00:50:19.700 --> 00:50:22.263
but a hundred percent
of the actual locations,

00:50:23.670 --> 00:50:26.440
And this gets at the letter
of credit requirements

00:50:26.440 --> 00:50:28.620
and it's a pretty technical discussion

00:50:28.620 --> 00:50:31.480
that I would really don't want to try

00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:33.907
to too many details at this time.

00:50:33.907 --> 00:50:36.930
But to validate the point
that, in your question,

00:50:36.930 --> 00:50:40.770
which is that there
are, and discrepancies,

00:50:40.770 --> 00:50:42.690
number of locations
that have been estimated

00:50:42.690 --> 00:50:44.490
and the actual locations.

00:50:44.490 --> 00:50:48.570
And that is why this particular
aspect of the program was

00:50:48.570 --> 00:50:51.040
changed in light of that feedback.

00:50:51.040 --> 00:50:55.220
A location is a home or
business that could receive

00:50:55.220 --> 00:51:00.220
service within 10 days of
a request from a consumer

00:51:01.610 --> 00:51:06.320
and the discrepancies and
the inadequacies of the data

00:51:06.320 --> 00:51:09.720
have been addressed in
the January report in order

00:51:09.720 --> 00:51:12.540
that adopted a different
framework for this auction

00:51:12.540 --> 00:51:14.510
that will require a deployment
to a hundred percent

00:51:14.510 --> 00:51:18.773
of the actual locations in
an area that receives support.

00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:31.270
<v ->I will read another
question appending</v>

00:51:31.270 --> 00:51:35.800
on our WebEx chat
system and that is still

00:51:36.930 --> 00:51:40.190
in this same subject area of locations

00:51:40.190 --> 00:51:43.950
as they're recognized
by the RDOF program,

00:51:43.950 --> 00:51:46.330
I'll read it close to verbatim.

00:51:46.330 --> 00:51:49.170
After viewing the FCC preliminary map,

00:51:49.170 --> 00:51:53.400
our region in California
has very few opportunities,

00:51:53.400 --> 00:51:58.400
but our region has 14,083
households out of 32,000

00:52:00.040 --> 00:52:01.640
that are unserved.

00:52:01.640 --> 00:52:04.786
How do we work with
the FCC while the map is

00:52:04.786 --> 00:52:09.786
in preliminary stage to
include more opportunities

00:52:10.220 --> 00:52:11.880
in our region?

00:52:11.880 --> 00:52:14.500
Michael, if you would
like to kind of enhance

00:52:14.500 --> 00:52:19.160
your remarks about locations
and the handshake there,

00:52:19.160 --> 00:52:23.598
if you will, to RDOF
eligibility, I could also mention

00:52:23.598 --> 00:52:26.300
that we would ask this questioner

00:52:26.300 --> 00:52:29.090
to reach out to the
CPUC for our resources,

00:52:29.090 --> 00:52:31.400
but if you could take a swing
at that question, Michael,

00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:36.400
again, this person, a
broadband development official

00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:40.357
out in one of our rural
counties is saying,

00:52:40.357 --> 00:52:42.520
"I don't think RDOF covers enough

00:52:42.520 --> 00:52:46.620
of the locations we know are unserved."

00:52:46.620 --> 00:52:47.570
Thank you, Michael.

00:52:50.080 --> 00:52:51.910
<v Michael>I very much
appreciate this question.</v>

00:52:51.910 --> 00:52:56.280
The Commission agrees
that our fixed broadband

00:52:56.280 --> 00:52:59.070
and our mobile
broadband data collections

00:52:59.070 --> 00:53:01.910
need to improve, and we have launched

00:53:01.910 --> 00:53:05.550
a new digital
opportunity data collection

00:53:05.550 --> 00:53:10.550
that will collect more granular
and more reliable data,

00:53:11.980 --> 00:53:14.550
both from fixed and mobile providers.

00:53:14.550 --> 00:53:17.580
And there is a whole team of FCC staff

00:53:17.580 --> 00:53:20.770
that are working constantly
on those proceedings

00:53:20.770 --> 00:53:24.130
to improve our data collection.

00:53:24.130 --> 00:53:27.690
The Commission, when it was
adopting the RDOF framework

00:53:27.690 --> 00:53:32.690
had to balance, trust and
getting money, to unserved areas,

00:53:36.090 --> 00:53:39.370
our interest in better data
and what the Commission

00:53:39.370 --> 00:53:43.050
chose to do, to adopt
a multi-phase approach

00:53:43.050 --> 00:53:46.290
in which Phase I would
target funds to areas

00:53:46.290 --> 00:53:51.020
that are completely
unserved, is that no provider

00:53:51.020 --> 00:53:54.500
claims to offer service to no location,

00:53:54.500 --> 00:53:57.610
to any location in that census block.

00:53:57.610 --> 00:54:00.980
And that area then is
considered completely unserved

00:54:00.980 --> 00:54:05.980
and the Commission's
view isn't, in Phase I,

00:54:06.470 --> 00:54:09.550
we have to direct our
limited funds to those areas

00:54:09.550 --> 00:54:10.383
that are,

00:54:12.160 --> 00:54:15.170
In Phase II we intend to address areas

00:54:15.170 --> 00:54:17.240
that are partially served, areas that

00:54:17.240 --> 00:54:19.920
don't receive support in Phase I,

00:54:19.920 --> 00:54:22.340
in areas that we identify
as unserved through

00:54:22.340 --> 00:54:26.840
the, Trinity data collection,
a number of states

00:54:26.840 --> 00:54:29.733
have begun working on this issue of,

00:54:31.240 --> 00:54:33.370
and particularly rural
broadband deployment.

00:54:33.370 --> 00:54:35.210
And some other states have their own

00:54:35.210 --> 00:54:39.173
Rural Broadband Task
Forces that are focused on,

00:54:40.250 --> 00:54:41.230
your teeing up.

00:54:41.230 --> 00:54:44.930
One is the data in terms
of where is broadband

00:54:44.930 --> 00:54:47.150
in our state and where it is not.

00:54:47.150 --> 00:54:50.120
And in terms of how do we get support

00:54:50.120 --> 00:54:52.580
to the areas that need it the most.

00:54:52.580 --> 00:54:55.180
And some of the
solutions in these regards

00:54:55.180 --> 00:54:57.617
are going to come at the state level.

00:54:57.617 --> 00:55:02.080
And there is an ongoing
proceeding about how to reform

00:55:02.080 --> 00:55:05.100
our data collections
that could be informed

00:55:05.100 --> 00:55:09.666
by your efforts to address
these issues in your area.

00:55:09.666 --> 00:55:14.000
At this time, the preliminary
eligible areas for Phase I

00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:17.460
are the areas that are
completely unserved.

00:55:17.460 --> 00:55:20.400
There may be some ancillary
benefits for other areas,

00:55:20.400 --> 00:55:22.540
but that is the framework
that was adopted

00:55:22.540 --> 00:55:26.650
for Phase, and areas
in, near you that are either

00:55:26.650 --> 00:55:28.848
partially served or identified as,

00:55:28.848 --> 00:55:33.060
digital opportunity data
collection, would presumably

00:55:33.060 --> 00:55:35.513
be eligible for Phase II of the program.

00:55:38.980 --> 00:55:41.763
<v ->Excellent Michael, thank
you for that detailed answer</v>

00:55:41.763 --> 00:55:45.160
and the person that asked that question.

00:55:45.160 --> 00:55:49.220
Let me again, give you
our new email address.

00:55:49.220 --> 00:55:51.810
We would like to work with you to answer

00:55:51.810 --> 00:55:54.920
specifically the question
that you asked for your

00:55:54.920 --> 00:55:58.890
rural County or your rural
region here in California.

00:55:58.890 --> 00:56:00.960
And please pipe that question.

00:56:00.960 --> 00:56:05.110
So our GIS and policy
experts can get back to you.

00:56:05.110 --> 00:56:09.593
That new email is
federalbroadbandfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

00:56:13.290 --> 00:56:17.270
I recognize your name active
in our consortia program,

00:56:17.270 --> 00:56:19.930
and we would really
enjoy working with you.

00:56:19.930 --> 00:56:23.370
You heard our Director our Commissioner,

00:56:23.370 --> 00:56:27.080
and none other than Director
Janson in Washington,

00:56:27.080 --> 00:56:29.070
say that we all want to assist you

00:56:29.070 --> 00:56:32.310
in doing exactly this, specifying

00:56:32.310 --> 00:56:36.550
your fundable eligible
locations here in California,

00:56:36.550 --> 00:56:38.250
and working with you to get a provider

00:56:38.250 --> 00:56:41.820
to go after this funding,
going through some

00:56:41.820 --> 00:56:45.030
of the other questions
tied into this same

00:56:45.030 --> 00:56:47.640
technical issue under RDOF.

00:56:47.640 --> 00:56:51.440
Michael, we have a
question that we believe

00:56:51.440 --> 00:56:54.600
was resolved in the
Commission vote of yesterday.

00:56:54.600 --> 00:56:59.520
What will be under Phase
I of RDOF Auction 904?

00:56:59.520 --> 00:57:03.243
What will be the minimum
geographic bidding unit please?

00:57:07.370 --> 00:57:09.190
<v Michael>Thank
you for the question.</v>

00:57:09.190 --> 00:57:12.450
The Commission adopted
census block groups

00:57:12.450 --> 00:57:16.720
as the minimum
geographic area, as indicated

00:57:16.720 --> 00:57:18.860
in the draft procedures Public Notice

00:57:18.860 --> 00:57:22.010
that was released a few weeks ago.

00:57:22.010 --> 00:57:24.410
This is one of those issues
where the Commission

00:57:24.410 --> 00:57:29.410
has to balance competing
concerns with our,

00:57:29.470 --> 00:57:31.410
the administration of an auction.

00:57:31.410 --> 00:57:35.670
We, it's very challenging
for us to administer auctions

00:57:35.670 --> 00:57:40.490
with tens of thousands
of potential biddable units.

00:57:40.490 --> 00:57:42.670
At the same time, we
recognize the interests

00:57:42.670 --> 00:57:44.950
of different entities, small to large,

00:57:44.950 --> 00:57:48.866
and either smaller or
larger biddable units.

00:57:48.866 --> 00:57:51.640
But in this case, the
Commission chose to adopt

00:57:51.640 --> 00:57:54.180
census block groups
as the biddable unit,

00:57:54.180 --> 00:57:56.810
which will roll up
census blocks and roll up

00:57:56.810 --> 00:57:58.713
the locations in those census blocks.

00:58:00.840 --> 00:58:03.064
<v ->Excellent Michael,
thank you again,</v>

00:58:03.064 --> 00:58:06.120
I guess the industry press can't always

00:58:06.120 --> 00:58:08.940
be expected to cover your
Commissioners correctly.

00:58:08.940 --> 00:58:11.600
So thank you so much
for the clarification.

00:58:11.600 --> 00:58:15.302
That's extremely important,
particularly for California,

00:58:15.302 --> 00:58:18.470
because as you said,
we are working with you

00:58:18.470 --> 00:58:20.730
to justify eligibility and upwards

00:58:20.730 --> 00:58:25.730
of 473,000 locations
around rural California.

00:58:26.410 --> 00:58:28.740
Looking for another question here,

00:58:28.740 --> 00:58:33.740
this goes, Michael, to this
questioner's understanding

00:58:34.470 --> 00:58:38.790
of the reserve price
upward limit for household.

00:58:38.790 --> 00:58:40.950
I'll read the question verbatim.

00:58:40.950 --> 00:58:45.760
Why is the cost per
household limited to $4,000

00:58:45.760 --> 00:58:48.910
in rural areas, this
is substantially higher

00:58:48.910 --> 00:58:51.260
in cost and build as well.

00:58:51.260 --> 00:58:55.160
So again, could you drill
down a little bit Michael,

00:58:55.160 --> 00:58:59.410
on how the Commission
sets a so-called reserve price

00:58:59.410 --> 00:59:04.410
and is this upward limit
of $4,000 either annually

00:59:05.560 --> 00:59:08.890
or monthly on a per-location basis?

00:59:08.890 --> 00:59:10.830
Is that basically correct?

00:59:10.830 --> 00:59:13.030
Thank you for thinking
this through Michael,

00:59:18.690 --> 00:59:19.720
<v Michael>Thank
you for the question.</v>

00:59:19.720 --> 00:59:22.070
Let me get to the slide
that addresses that.

00:59:29.470 --> 00:59:33.020
So this slide indicates
that the cost threshold

00:59:33.020 --> 00:59:37.930
for inclusion in the
auction and the inclusion

00:59:37.930 --> 00:59:41.229
for the auction is
the threshold at which

00:59:41.229 --> 00:59:45.470
the location is sufficiently low cost,

00:59:45.470 --> 00:59:47.790
that it would not be considered eligible

00:59:47.790 --> 00:59:49.893
for the purposes of this auction.

00:59:50.930 --> 00:59:55.930
The per-location funding
cap is the other number

00:59:56.160 --> 00:59:58.363
that I provided previously.

00:59:59.450 --> 01:00:00.283
I will,

01:00:03.390 --> 01:00:05.193
show you that slide as well.

01:00:13.310 --> 01:00:18.310
So the Commission has to
balance getting more money

01:00:20.350 --> 01:00:24.920
out to fewer locations
versus more efficiently

01:00:24.920 --> 01:00:28.240
or less money to more locations.

01:00:28.240 --> 01:00:33.168
And in the January report, in
order, the Commission adopted

01:00:33.168 --> 01:00:35.700
the framework that is on this slide,

01:00:35.700 --> 01:00:40.700
which is a lower threshold
for inclusion in the auction,

01:00:40.820 --> 01:00:44.000
but a higher level of support.

01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:48.350
And so the amount of
support and the threshold

01:00:48.350 --> 01:00:52.300
is based upon the
Connect America cost model

01:00:52.300 --> 01:00:56.920
that was adopted in
2014, the Commission's

01:00:56.920 --> 01:01:01.830
use of competitive bidding
offers us the opportunity

01:01:01.830 --> 01:01:05.160
to award supports at
levels that are lower

01:01:05.160 --> 01:01:06.533
than the cost model.

01:01:08.160 --> 01:01:12.040
And also because we
have modified the threshold

01:01:12.040 --> 01:01:16.720
for some areas, implicitly
suggest that perhaps

01:01:16.720 --> 01:01:20.560
the cost model has
underestimated the cost

01:01:20.560 --> 01:01:23.090
of providing service to those areas,

01:01:23.090 --> 01:01:26.603
specifically tribal areas
and areas that lack 10/1.

01:01:28.693 --> 01:01:33.100
I do not know if there's
more that I can say

01:01:33.100 --> 01:01:35.840
about that today, other than to say

01:01:35.840 --> 01:01:39.837
that the cost threshold and
the per-location support cap

01:01:39.837 --> 01:01:41.970
was adopted in the January order

01:01:41.970 --> 01:01:43.950
and it is based upon the cost model.

01:01:43.950 --> 01:01:46.470
Each location has an
individual reserve price,

01:01:46.470 --> 01:01:48.930
which is then rolled up
into a census block group

01:01:49.893 --> 01:01:51.743
through the census blocks themselves.

01:01:58.210 --> 01:01:59.920
<v ->Thank you, Michael, thank you.</v>

01:01:59.920 --> 01:02:01.830
I wanted to bring up a question that's

01:02:01.830 --> 01:02:05.300
kind of related to that question.

01:02:05.300 --> 01:02:09.240
Is it possible for a
hundred megabit tier

01:02:09.240 --> 01:02:13.920
to win a bid against a
one gigabit speed bid?

01:02:13.920 --> 01:02:17.140
Is that only possible if
the one gigabit bidder

01:02:17.140 --> 01:02:20.913
steps down for an area
before the clearing round?

01:02:22.030 --> 01:02:23.830
Kind of associated, little different,

01:02:23.830 --> 01:02:25.330
if you can take that, Michael.

01:02:28.060 --> 01:02:32.190
<v Michael>So the Commission
adopted a protocol</v>

01:02:33.460 --> 01:02:37.920
that will award support
to the lowest T+L

01:02:39.200 --> 01:02:41.973
at the clock percentage
in the clearance round.

01:02:43.430 --> 01:02:47.010
And if there are either
competing bids between entities

01:02:47.010 --> 01:02:52.010
of same T+L, or if the
lowest T+L is not bidding

01:02:52.790 --> 01:02:56.490
at the clock percentage,
and this particular provision

01:02:56.490 --> 01:02:57.640
would not be triggered.

01:02:58.800 --> 01:03:03.040
So that is to say, there are cases where

01:03:03.040 --> 01:03:05.763
entity with a higher T+L could win.

01:03:06.840 --> 01:03:11.147
I recommend this questioner
to review the auction,

01:03:11.147 --> 01:03:16.147
technical guide in which we
have close to two dozen examples

01:03:19.400 --> 01:03:23.140
of which bid will win in
certain hypothetical examples,

01:03:23.140 --> 01:03:25.995
including in this type of situation.

01:03:25.995 --> 01:03:27.190
I think it might be
off the top of my head

01:03:27.190 --> 01:03:32.040
Example 18, that is posted
on our Auction 904 website

01:03:32.040 --> 01:03:35.680
and then we'll walk you
through specific examples of,

01:03:35.680 --> 01:03:38.700
if the bid is at this T+L
and it's at this percentage

01:03:38.700 --> 01:03:41.623
of the clock price against
this bid, which bid will win.

01:03:46.050 --> 01:03:49.420
<v ->Excellent. Michael,
thank you for that.</v>

01:03:49.420 --> 01:03:53.250
I'd like to switch to two
questions that are related

01:03:53.250 --> 01:03:57.480
vis-a-vis what we here
at the CPUC can do

01:03:57.480 --> 01:04:00.970
for rural communities
to access this program.

01:04:00.970 --> 01:04:03.870
The first one is as follows.

01:04:03.870 --> 01:04:05.920
What should communities do to encourage

01:04:05.920 --> 01:04:09.170
local exchange
carriers, to apply to these

01:04:09.170 --> 01:04:12.960
funding opportunities, to
bring in more broadband service

01:04:12.960 --> 01:04:17.960
in their respective areas,
and this questioner mentions

01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:21.200
Covello, Hoopa and
Mariposa come to mind,

01:04:21.200 --> 01:04:23.713
all three of which have
tribal health programs

01:04:23.713 --> 01:04:27.470
that lack adequate broadband service.

01:04:27.470 --> 01:04:30.930
Michael, could you
speak briefly if you can,

01:04:30.930 --> 01:04:34.830
to the FCC's Telehealth
Program, and then I can swing back

01:04:34.830 --> 01:04:36.980
to the resources that the Commission

01:04:36.980 --> 01:04:40.050
and Director Osborne's
staff here can provide

01:04:40.050 --> 01:04:41.683
to communities like this.

01:04:43.640 --> 01:04:44.970
<v Michael>I'm happy to do so.</v>

01:04:44.970 --> 01:04:47.310
The program that I am talking about

01:04:47.310 --> 01:04:51.240
is the use of competitive
auctions to award support

01:04:51.240 --> 01:04:54.650
within the universal service
funds high cost program,

01:04:54.650 --> 01:04:57.250
which is the largest
of the four programs

01:04:57.250 --> 01:05:01.720
that we use to advance the
principle of universal service

01:05:01.720 --> 01:05:05.440
that everybody should
receive the most advanced

01:05:05.440 --> 01:05:09.853
telecommunication
services at reasonable cost.

01:05:10.780 --> 01:05:13.280
The other components
of this program include

01:05:13.280 --> 01:05:16.100
the Lifeline program,
which provides subsidies

01:05:16.100 --> 01:05:19.100
to low income individuals
to make sure that they

01:05:19.100 --> 01:05:20.970
have access to these services.

01:05:20.970 --> 01:05:24.270
We also have a schools and
library program called E-rate

01:05:24.270 --> 01:05:26.860
that makes sure that
those anchor institutions

01:05:26.860 --> 01:05:30.040
receive the broadband that they need.

01:05:30.040 --> 01:05:33.560
And we also have a program
that focuses on Rural Healthcare.

01:05:33.560 --> 01:05:37.480
We also in light of the recent
events with the pandemic

01:05:37.480 --> 01:05:42.020
have a program that is
providing funding to rural hospitals,

01:05:42.020 --> 01:05:45.460
and that is making grants already.

01:05:45.460 --> 01:05:47.030
And so that is a separate program

01:05:47.030 --> 01:05:48.923
and a separate source of support.

01:05:51.930 --> 01:05:54.020
<v ->Excellent. Thank
you for that, Michael.</v>

01:05:54.020 --> 01:05:57.700
And I would add from the
CPUC's perspective again,

01:05:57.700 --> 01:06:01.410
if I could generically give
out our new email address,

01:06:01.410 --> 01:06:04.140
where we want to support communities

01:06:04.140 --> 01:06:07.477
and interested residents
around California

01:06:07.477 --> 01:06:12.400
in just this type of question
that the questioner proposed,

01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:17.400
what can CPUC do with
FCC to reach out in areas

01:06:17.660 --> 01:06:19.450
that we know are unserved.

01:06:19.450 --> 01:06:23.810
And this question is also
pointing to a specific FCC program

01:06:23.810 --> 01:06:28.050
that's for, Telehealth, give
that email address out again,

01:06:28.050 --> 01:06:31.790
federalbroadbandfunding, all one word,

01:06:31.790 --> 01:06:36.790
federalbroadbandfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

01:06:37.900 --> 01:06:41.120
So please don't hesitate
to send us any questions

01:06:41.120 --> 01:06:43.520
we would like to work
with you, reach out to our

01:06:43.520 --> 01:06:47.230
regional broadband
planning, consortia structure

01:06:47.230 --> 01:06:50.350
to help you find a
provider that can go after

01:06:50.350 --> 01:06:51.920
this funding that Michael has done

01:06:51.920 --> 01:06:54.643
such a great job in talking about.

01:06:55.626 --> 01:07:00.626
We covered the gigabit versus
a hundred megabit question.

01:07:00.960 --> 01:07:05.223
Let's see what else we have.

01:07:06.410 --> 01:07:11.310
There is a questioner
citing the federal register

01:07:11.310 --> 01:07:14.200
as it requires a carrier
to certify that support

01:07:14.200 --> 01:07:16.380
during the preceding calendar year

01:07:16.380 --> 01:07:18.880
and support in the
upcoming calendar year

01:07:18.880 --> 01:07:21.640
only be used for the provision,
maintenance and upgrading

01:07:21.640 --> 01:07:26.533
of facility services, for
which support is intended.

01:07:27.812 --> 01:07:30.600
It's a rather complex
question that spans

01:07:30.600 --> 01:07:34.070
into the specific guidelines of FCC.

01:07:34.070 --> 01:07:35.527
What I'd like to do.

01:07:35.527 --> 01:07:38.680
We have this questioner's name.

01:07:38.680 --> 01:07:40.290
It is a broadband provider.

01:07:40.290 --> 01:07:44.010
We're aware of what we can do is field

01:07:44.010 --> 01:07:47.370
this rather technical question
over to Michael as well.

01:07:47.370 --> 01:07:50.943
And we will answer
you, provider, who quoted

01:07:50.943 --> 01:07:54.960
the applicable Federal Register notice

01:07:54.960 --> 01:07:59.380
on what provision of service
means under this program.

01:08:00.930 --> 01:08:03.840
Again, Michael, if you'd like
to just generally touch on it,

01:08:03.840 --> 01:08:06.010
I think you're on the right slide now,

01:08:06.010 --> 01:08:11.010
what does FCC look for
as an RDOF awardee has to

01:08:11.300 --> 01:08:14.033
comply with what in
the years going forward?

01:08:16.836 --> 01:08:18.433
<v Michael>Well, there
are two components</v>

01:08:18.433 --> 01:08:20.960
to this question, and
it's a very good question.

01:08:20.960 --> 01:08:25.580
The first is that the FCC has
adopted specific requirements

01:08:25.580 --> 01:08:29.210
for recipients of funding
through this program.

01:08:29.210 --> 01:08:33.370
And those requirements
are articulated in

01:08:33.370 --> 01:08:37.160
the important order that
was adopted in January

01:08:37.160 --> 01:08:39.690
and in the Auction
Procedures Public Notice

01:08:39.690 --> 01:08:42.040
that was adopted yesterday.

01:08:42.040 --> 01:08:44.410
And in general, what
it requires you to do

01:08:44.410 --> 01:08:48.220
is to deploy based upon
the timelines that are required

01:08:48.220 --> 01:08:50.710
to the locations in
the area that you have

01:08:50.710 --> 01:08:54.600
received support that
you offer standalone voice

01:08:54.600 --> 01:08:58.040
and broadband at the level of speed

01:08:58.040 --> 01:09:00.450
with the usage allowances
and at the level of latency

01:09:00.450 --> 01:09:02.580
that you said that you would provide,

01:09:02.580 --> 01:09:04.790
that you report on your progress

01:09:04.790 --> 01:09:08.780
and that you charge consumers,
reasonably comparable rates

01:09:08.780 --> 01:09:11.503
to the similar services
offered in urban areas.

01:09:12.600 --> 01:09:17.600
There is also an obligation
under the act to use

01:09:17.860 --> 01:09:22.320
universal service funds
for the purposes for which

01:09:22.320 --> 01:09:26.380
they awarded and all high
costs recipients are required

01:09:26.380 --> 01:09:31.380
generally to abide by
that statutory requirement.

01:09:31.500 --> 01:09:33.710
And the language that
I think this questioner

01:09:33.710 --> 01:09:38.710
is asking about refers to 47 U.S.C. 254,

01:09:39.690 --> 01:09:44.690
which includes those generally
applicable requirements

01:09:45.170 --> 01:09:47.100
that if you take high cost funding,

01:09:47.100 --> 01:09:50.420
you have to use high cost
funding for the purposes

01:09:50.420 --> 01:09:54.423
for which it was awarded
and not for any other purposes.

01:10:19.650 --> 01:10:24.650
<v ->Thank you, like to read
another question again, Michael,</v>

01:10:24.980 --> 01:10:29.520
this goes to the process
in the bidding rounds.

01:10:29.520 --> 01:10:33.530
The question is, do you
qualify the size of bids

01:10:33.530 --> 01:10:35.970
that can be submitted by an entity

01:10:35.970 --> 01:10:39.203
based on their financial history?

01:10:43.840 --> 01:10:45.080
<v Michael>Thank you
for that question.</v>

01:10:45.080 --> 01:10:50.080
No, a bidder has to
make their own decisions

01:10:50.100 --> 01:10:53.250
about how much to bid in the auction.

01:10:53.250 --> 01:10:55.920
There is a limitation that was adopted.

01:10:55.920 --> 01:10:57.850
This is a pretty technical one,

01:10:57.850 --> 01:10:59.790
which is that a bidder
cannot bid for more

01:10:59.790 --> 01:11:04.790
than a hundred percent of
the reserve price in the auction,

01:11:05.080 --> 01:11:09.030
but otherwise bidders have
to make their own decisions

01:11:09.030 --> 01:11:11.690
about how many areas to bid on

01:11:11.690 --> 01:11:13.693
and how much to bid in those areas.

01:11:14.630 --> 01:11:19.630
The caution that I would
remind potential applicants

01:11:20.380 --> 01:11:24.730
is that as much as applying
to participate in the auction

01:11:24.730 --> 01:11:29.030
does not require you to
participate in the auction.

01:11:29.030 --> 01:11:32.430
Once you participate in the
auction and bid in the auction,

01:11:32.430 --> 01:11:35.550
you are subject to default penalties.

01:11:35.550 --> 01:11:39.390
If you win areas for
support and you do not

01:11:39.390 --> 01:11:43.060
provide service in those areas,
and those default penalties

01:11:43.060 --> 01:11:45.300
can be very significant.

01:11:45.300 --> 01:11:48.770
So, and the default
penalties are calculated

01:11:48.770 --> 01:11:50.840
based upon the size of the bid

01:11:50.840 --> 01:11:53.480
and the amount of areas that were won.

01:11:53.480 --> 01:11:56.320
And so applicants that
are qualified to participate

01:11:56.320 --> 01:12:00.340
in the auction should review
the default penalty provisions

01:12:00.340 --> 01:12:02.800
that are in the January report in order

01:12:02.800 --> 01:12:06.050
so that they understand
the consequences of bidding

01:12:06.050 --> 01:12:09.040
and providing that
indication that you are willing

01:12:09.040 --> 01:12:11.160
to provide service in a particular area

01:12:11.160 --> 01:12:13.363
at a particular price.

01:12:17.470 --> 01:12:19.470
<v ->Excellent. Michael,
thank you for that.</v>

01:12:19.470 --> 01:12:21.980
I'd like to bring up two
questions that have come in

01:12:21.980 --> 01:12:25.620
relative to the voice
services requirement

01:12:25.620 --> 01:12:30.570
of the RDOF program, the first one says,

01:12:30.570 --> 01:12:34.745
With so much in
current Internet services,

01:12:34.745 --> 01:12:39.745
going over the Internet as packets

01:12:40.110 --> 01:12:42.230
rather than standard voice.

01:12:42.230 --> 01:12:47.230
Why has the FCC chosen
to require a voice be deployed

01:12:48.930 --> 01:12:51.623
as by an RDOF winning bidder?

01:12:57.690 --> 01:13:00.170
<v Michael>Thank you for the
question, we've received</v>

01:13:00.170 --> 01:13:04.770
a number of questions
about why the FCC requires

01:13:04.770 --> 01:13:08.000
providers to offer standalone voice.

01:13:08.000 --> 01:13:11.720
And there are a number of policy reasons

01:13:11.720 --> 01:13:14.470
and statutory reasons for this.

01:13:14.470 --> 01:13:17.050
The most fundamental of
which is that under the Act,

01:13:17.050 --> 01:13:22.050
voice is the supported service
and entities need to provide

01:13:22.130 --> 01:13:25.760
standalone voice services
to consumers that want

01:13:25.760 --> 01:13:28.890
it as part of the program.

01:13:28.890 --> 01:13:32.010
And that has been a
longstanding historical part

01:13:32.010 --> 01:13:35.770
of the program, it was part of
the program in CAF Phase II,

01:13:35.770 --> 01:13:40.670
which was regarded as a
very successful program.

01:13:40.670 --> 01:13:43.860
There are obviously different
ways that winning bidders

01:13:43.860 --> 01:13:46.740
can offer a standalone voice services,

01:13:46.740 --> 01:13:50.800
but that is the policy
framework that was adopted

01:13:50.800 --> 01:13:53.823
and it flows from the
requirements of the Act.

01:13:57.670 --> 01:14:00.090
<v ->Got it. Michael,
thank you for that.</v>

01:14:00.090 --> 01:14:04.300
And associated a question
from a WISP operator,

01:14:04.300 --> 01:14:08.960
wireless services Internet
provider here in California,

01:14:08.960 --> 01:14:12.530
I'll read it verbatim so
you get the flavor of it.

01:14:12.530 --> 01:14:16.880
What can WISP's who are
already covering these areas

01:14:16.880 --> 01:14:21.880
with speeds in the range
of a hundred down, 12.5 up,

01:14:22.107 --> 01:14:25.270
but but are not directly
providing voice services

01:14:25.270 --> 01:14:30.270
due to work with the CPUC
and FCC to show these areas

01:14:30.410 --> 01:14:34.740
have full coverage of
Internet and access to services

01:14:34.740 --> 01:14:37.580
so that they are not worried about fiber

01:14:37.580 --> 01:14:40.990
or terrestrial services
coming in and displacing

01:14:40.990 --> 01:14:45.990
years of work to gain mindshare
because the FCC slash CPUC

01:14:47.350 --> 01:14:51.230
believes they are underserved areas.

01:14:51.230 --> 01:14:52.770
Michael, if you could
take a swing at that?

01:14:52.770 --> 01:14:53.720
We'd appreciate it.

01:14:55.810 --> 01:14:59.250
<v Michael>So the policy
framework that the Commission</v>

01:14:59.250 --> 01:15:04.250
adopted was to target support,
to areas that lacked 25/3,

01:15:06.150 --> 01:15:09.668
or voice as reported in
the most recently available

01:15:09.668 --> 01:15:14.668
Form 477 Filing, and the Form
477 Filing that was available

01:15:16.280 --> 01:15:20.730
was the June 2019 Form 477
Filing and that was what was used

01:15:20.730 --> 01:15:24.143
to create the preliminary
eligible locations.

01:15:26.930 --> 01:15:31.930
And so if deployment has
not been, was not indicated

01:15:31.930 --> 01:15:36.570
on the June, 2019 filing,
then there was an opportunity,

01:15:36.570 --> 01:15:39.830
limited opportunity
for entities to indicate

01:15:39.830 --> 01:15:42.590
as of April 10th, to the
limited challenge process

01:15:42.590 --> 01:15:45.730
that they had been
deploying to those areas

01:15:45.730 --> 01:15:48.240
and thus those areas
would not be eligible.

01:15:48.240 --> 01:15:50.960
And I presume that that
is what this questioner

01:15:50.960 --> 01:15:54.360
is asking about, is
how to reduce eligibility

01:15:54.360 --> 01:15:57.630
so that someone can not
subsidize to provide services

01:15:58.576 --> 01:15:59.440
in that particular area.

01:15:59.440 --> 01:16:01.440
<v ->Exactly right.</v>

01:16:01.440 --> 01:16:04.520
<v Michael>We will be
providing an updated list</v>

01:16:04.520 --> 01:16:07.420
of eligible locations that
reflects the resolution

01:16:07.420 --> 01:16:09.435
of the challenges that we received.

01:16:09.435 --> 01:16:12.380
A number of which as
shown in the public docket,

01:16:12.380 --> 01:16:17.010
involve entities,
trying to exclude areas

01:16:17.010 --> 01:16:19.090
and thus reduce the number of locations

01:16:19.090 --> 01:16:22.963
that could receive
support in a particular state.

01:16:25.800 --> 01:16:30.110
An entity that is interested
in providing service

01:16:30.110 --> 01:16:33.010
is welcome to bid, to provide service

01:16:33.010 --> 01:16:37.950
in the eligible locations,
and they can compete

01:16:37.950 --> 01:16:40.850
for the support and if
they win the support,

01:16:40.850 --> 01:16:42.470
then they would need to provide service

01:16:42.470 --> 01:16:45.250
at the performance and
tier that the latency tier

01:16:45.250 --> 01:16:49.593
that they bid on with a
standalone of voice as well.

01:16:52.190 --> 01:16:53.240
<v ->Excellent, Michael.</v>

01:16:55.040 --> 01:17:00.040
To a little closer definition
of the non-collusion rules

01:17:00.260 --> 01:17:04.850
in the bidding process,
the questioner asks

01:17:04.850 --> 01:17:08.340
what are some of the
challenges that ISP's have in

01:17:08.340 --> 01:17:12.290
collaborating with CPUC
for the development

01:17:12.290 --> 01:17:15.630
of rural broadband projects.

01:17:15.630 --> 01:17:18.700
So that I look at that
as a generic question,

01:17:18.700 --> 01:17:22.280
but since you're with us,
Michael, could we focus in

01:17:22.280 --> 01:17:25.857
on as providers come to
the California Commission

01:17:25.857 --> 01:17:29.900
and staff here, what
should we be aware of?

01:17:29.900 --> 01:17:33.570
What types of communications
do we have to avoid

01:17:33.570 --> 01:17:35.740
in working with those providers

01:17:35.740 --> 01:17:38.993
to go after your program's funding?

01:17:43.940 --> 01:17:46.760
<v Michael>The first thing
I'll say is that questions</v>

01:17:46.760 --> 01:17:49.650
about the Prohibited
Communications Rule that deal with

01:17:49.650 --> 01:17:54.650
specific issues or hypotheticals,
should be addressed

01:17:55.060 --> 01:17:59.857
to our dedicated email
address auction904@fcc.gov.

01:18:02.800 --> 01:18:05.850
We have a team of experts
that have been working

01:18:05.850 --> 01:18:10.850
on prohibited communications
issues for many, many years,

01:18:10.990 --> 01:18:13.463
and they are happy to
answer your questions

01:18:13.463 --> 01:18:16.010
about these issues.

01:18:16.010 --> 01:18:18.780
If you have any question about this,

01:18:18.780 --> 01:18:20.710
I would encourage
you to defer on the side

01:18:20.710 --> 01:18:25.270
of asking about it before
engaging in any type

01:18:25.270 --> 01:18:29.513
of communications that
may run afoul of the rule.

01:18:30.908 --> 01:18:34.690
It is very important that third parties

01:18:34.690 --> 01:18:39.640
do not become wittingly
or unwittingly conduits

01:18:39.640 --> 01:18:42.003
for applicants' bidding information.

01:18:43.065 --> 01:18:46.230
And that could mean a
situation where an applicant

01:18:46.230 --> 01:18:50.170
discusses its bidding
strategy with another entity

01:18:50.170 --> 01:18:53.041
who is also talking
with another applicant

01:18:53.041 --> 01:18:56.620
and thus the entity
could unwittingly become

01:18:56.620 --> 01:19:00.123
a conduit for information
between the two applicants.

01:19:00.970 --> 01:19:03.640
The applicants have
an extended quiet period

01:19:03.640 --> 01:19:08.490
in the FCC auctions that
begins with the filing deadline

01:19:08.490 --> 01:19:11.580
and it does not end
until the auction is over

01:19:11.580 --> 01:19:15.700
and entities that are
interested in talking to California

01:19:15.700 --> 01:19:20.700
or elsewise about broadband have to be

01:19:21.040 --> 01:19:25.660
very, very careful not to
disclose their bidding strategies

01:19:25.660 --> 01:19:28.520
to other applicants through witting

01:19:28.520 --> 01:19:31.550
or unwitting conduits of information.

01:19:31.550 --> 01:19:35.180
And if any state entity or
local entity has questions

01:19:35.180 --> 01:19:37.670
about this, I would
encourage you to be proactive

01:19:37.670 --> 01:19:40.100
and reach out to us and potentially

01:19:40.100 --> 01:19:43.910
to retain competent
telecommunications council

01:19:43.910 --> 01:19:46.400
that can talk with you
about the precedents

01:19:46.400 --> 01:19:48.480
and the violations that
we've had in the past

01:19:48.480 --> 01:19:51.660
and the penalties that
we've announced in the past,

01:19:51.660 --> 01:19:54.730
because there can be
aspects that are not intuitive.

01:19:54.730 --> 01:19:57.640
We have already received
inquiries from other states

01:19:57.640 --> 01:20:00.463
on this question, and I
would encourage you to do so.

01:20:01.843 --> 01:20:04.396
<v ->Excellent, Michael,
thank you very much.</v>

01:20:04.396 --> 01:20:08.970
To that questioner that
asked working with the CPUC,

01:20:08.970 --> 01:20:13.970
again, to pursue either
state or federal funding,

01:20:14.070 --> 01:20:17.380
again, because you're
asking about both programs,

01:20:17.380 --> 01:20:19.820
please use our federal funding email,

01:20:19.820 --> 01:20:24.817
federalbroadbandfunding,
all one word @cpuc.ca.gov.

01:20:28.340 --> 01:20:32.760
We also have a federal
funding, a new website.

01:20:32.760 --> 01:20:36.800
You just simply Google
CPUC, federal funding,

01:20:36.800 --> 01:20:38.810
and that new website should come up

01:20:38.810 --> 01:20:43.240
and we will re-read that
longer address to you.

01:20:43.240 --> 01:20:48.103
www.cpuc.ca.gov\broadbandfederalfunding.

01:20:52.700 --> 01:20:55.320
And we are updating that routinely.

01:20:55.320 --> 01:20:59.170
That again, we'll have
this presentation uploaded

01:20:59.170 --> 01:21:01.920
as quickly as we can
get it from our tech folks.

01:21:01.920 --> 01:21:05.520
We will have a copy of
yesterday's voted decision

01:21:05.520 --> 01:21:09.990
as soon as it is public and any
notes from our own resources

01:21:09.990 --> 01:21:11.713
to help you, as you go.

01:21:13.114 --> 01:21:17.510
Tied in Michael, back
to the eligibility question,

01:21:17.510 --> 01:21:21.320
we had a questioner saying
that he or she has gone

01:21:21.320 --> 01:21:26.320
into your FCC RDOF-map
and see some eligible areas

01:21:26.830 --> 01:21:31.830
in what that person knows
our urban areas is, the fact that

01:21:32.140 --> 01:21:36.015
they are in an urban
area, is that prohibitive?

01:21:36.015 --> 01:21:38.960
And are there any other considerations

01:21:38.960 --> 01:21:40.720
that they should draw?

01:21:40.720 --> 01:21:41.553
Thank you.

01:21:43.780 --> 01:21:48.254
<v Michael>So the criteria
for eligibility in the auction,</v>

01:21:48.254 --> 01:21:51.850
as much as this is a
program that is primarily

01:21:51.850 --> 01:21:55.430
about providing services to rural areas

01:21:55.430 --> 01:22:00.430
is based upon the reported
speeds and voice deployment

01:22:00.440 --> 01:22:04.610
and the cost threshold
under the framework

01:22:04.610 --> 01:22:06.880
that was adopted in January.

01:22:06.880 --> 01:22:10.850
It is not based upon a
separate data sets coding

01:22:10.850 --> 01:22:14.363
of the area based upon
population density or otherwise.

01:22:18.830 --> 01:22:20.280
<v ->Got it. Thank you.</v>

01:22:20.280 --> 01:22:23.610
So anyone following
the other federal program

01:22:23.610 --> 01:22:27.330
that we have talked about
within the last year or so,

01:22:27.330 --> 01:22:31.805
that makes it distinct from
the USDA's reconnect program

01:22:31.805 --> 01:22:34.080
that has certain collateral definitions

01:22:34.080 --> 01:22:36.940
of virality as USDA calls it.

01:22:36.940 --> 01:22:40.913
I think maybe the questioner
was maybe thinking about that.

01:22:45.340 --> 01:22:50.340
Back to some issues
of speed and latency,

01:22:51.720 --> 01:22:54.510
data caps and voice
services, they question

01:22:54.510 --> 01:22:57.320
where Michael says on
the ground, we are noticing

01:22:57.320 --> 01:23:00.600
that some ISP are increasing speeds,

01:23:00.600 --> 01:23:05.200
but having data caps that are
making service unaffordable.

01:23:05.200 --> 01:23:09.970
Is the FCC thinking about
data caps in relation to cost,

01:23:09.970 --> 01:23:14.370
as it looks at, whether
census blocks are served.

01:23:14.370 --> 01:23:16.500
And obviously the
questioner is talking about

01:23:16.500 --> 01:23:19.393
within the context of the RDOF-program.

01:23:24.960 --> 01:23:27.730
<v Michael>So the criteria
that was used to establish</v>

01:23:27.730 --> 01:23:32.380
eligibility is based upon
the reporting of service

01:23:32.380 --> 01:23:34.230
at a certain speed benchmark

01:23:34.230 --> 01:23:36.520
and the presence of voice services

01:23:36.520 --> 01:23:41.343
and the cost threshold
under the cost model.

01:23:43.230 --> 01:23:47.183
It is not based upon
additional criteria generally.

01:23:48.020 --> 01:23:51.860
The Commission is aware
of the issue of data caps

01:23:51.860 --> 01:23:55.210
and has adopted usage,
allowance requirements

01:23:55.210 --> 01:23:56.850
for potential bidders.

01:23:56.850 --> 01:24:00.680
If a bidder wants to
bid on gigabit service,

01:24:00.680 --> 01:24:02.930
then they have to provide at least

01:24:02.930 --> 01:24:05.921
two terabytes of data per month.

01:24:05.921 --> 01:24:10.330
The lower performance
tiers are at least 250 gigabytes

01:24:10.330 --> 01:24:13.360
or the median as
calculated by the bureaus

01:24:13.360 --> 01:24:15.563
on an ongoing basis going forward.

01:24:17.150 --> 01:24:18.630
<v ->Got it. Thank you.</v>

01:24:18.630 --> 01:24:21.720
We have another voice services question

01:24:21.720 --> 01:24:26.720
from a employee on a fixed
wireless provider, a WISP.

01:24:27.320 --> 01:24:30.599
At present, We do not
provide voice services.

01:24:30.599 --> 01:24:34.690
However, we are planning
to roll out with voice services

01:24:34.690 --> 01:24:38.770
by fourth quarter of 2020,
fourth quarter of this year.

01:24:38.770 --> 01:24:41.100
These are companies still eligible

01:24:41.100 --> 01:24:44.030
to submit an application for RDOF.

01:24:46.350 --> 01:24:50.790
<v Michael>Yes, this
program is open to entities</v>

01:24:50.790 --> 01:24:53.370
that provide broadband today,

01:24:53.370 --> 01:24:55.290
but don't provide voice services.

01:24:55.290 --> 01:24:57.870
It's open to entities
that don't even provide

01:24:57.870 --> 01:25:01.410
broadband today because
the program is designed

01:25:01.410 --> 01:25:04.340
to be open for a new
entrance that would use

01:25:04.340 --> 01:25:08.560
the amount of support
awarded to deploy new services.

01:25:08.560 --> 01:25:13.560
And so an entity that plans
to deploy a standalone voice

01:25:15.260 --> 01:25:19.860
in the future would be
well positioned to apply

01:25:19.860 --> 01:25:23.291
and be competitive
in this auction process.

01:25:23.291 --> 01:25:27.160
There are different requirements
for different providers

01:25:27.160 --> 01:25:30.010
based upon what they
have done in the past

01:25:30.010 --> 01:25:32.400
with regard to their
financial information.

01:25:32.400 --> 01:25:35.210
But those are not triggered based upon

01:25:35.210 --> 01:25:38.860
whether or not, they're
not meant to prohibit anyone

01:25:38.860 --> 01:25:40.140
because they have not provided

01:25:40.140 --> 01:25:42.420
stand alone voice in the past.

01:25:42.420 --> 01:25:46.550
And in CAF Phase II,
you can look at the results

01:25:46.550 --> 01:25:48.730
from CAF Phase II, which included awards

01:25:48.730 --> 01:25:51.093
to a number of entities
that had not provided

01:25:51.093 --> 01:25:53.400
voice services in the past.

01:25:53.400 --> 01:25:57.840
Now on that note that we have
not discussed in this webinar,

01:25:57.840 --> 01:26:01.470
but that high cost
fund recipients must be

01:26:01.470 --> 01:26:04.480
eligible telecommunications carriers.

01:26:04.480 --> 01:26:09.480
<v ->And by, which you are
authorized to receive support,</v>

01:26:09.690 --> 01:26:11.383
you must be designate as an ETC.

01:26:12.880 --> 01:26:17.141
For many states, the state
ETC is the ETC designating,

01:26:17.141 --> 01:26:22.141
and, winning bidder must
become designated as an ETC.

01:26:23.524 --> 01:26:26.963
You do not need to be an
ETC to apply to participate

01:26:26.963 --> 01:26:31.570
in the auction or to
participate in the auction or to,

01:26:31.570 --> 01:26:34.589
but the provider that
received the support

01:26:34.589 --> 01:26:38.563
must be designated as
an ETC or is authorized.

01:26:46.180 --> 01:26:48.080
<v ->Excellent, Michael,
thank you for that.</v>

01:26:48.080 --> 01:26:52.880
We have a few more VOIP
ans WISP related questions.

01:26:52.880 --> 01:26:56.720
I wanted to pick up on
your statement on ETC's,

01:26:56.720 --> 01:26:59.043
eligible telecommunication carriers.

01:27:00.711 --> 01:27:05.520
Here at the CPUC our
Commissioners recently voted through

01:27:05.520 --> 01:27:09.300
a resolution that takes the first steps

01:27:09.300 --> 01:27:14.300
for setting up a streamlined
process for the CPUC

01:27:14.350 --> 01:27:19.350
to issue ETC's to assist in
RDOF-bidders or winners

01:27:22.330 --> 01:27:25.370
that have qualified for the short form,

01:27:25.370 --> 01:27:29.800
but do not have an ETC in place yet.

01:27:29.800 --> 01:27:34.250
As Michael just said, you
can qualify for the entrance

01:27:34.250 --> 01:27:37.530
into the RDOF bidding
auction via the short form

01:27:37.530 --> 01:27:39.890
without being an ETC.

01:27:39.890 --> 01:27:44.550
But you must have your
applicable state's ETC certification.

01:27:44.550 --> 01:27:47.870
If you win a bid in
order to be certified

01:27:47.870 --> 01:27:52.350
through the long form to
walk away with those funds.

01:27:52.350 --> 01:27:57.350
So later on this year,
that kind of streamlined,

01:27:59.037 --> 01:28:03.930
ETC issuance process will be
undertaken by the Commission,

01:28:03.930 --> 01:28:06.540
Commissioner Guzman
Aceves who unfortunately

01:28:06.540 --> 01:28:09.470
had to leave us, was
in the lead of getting

01:28:09.470 --> 01:28:13.330
her fellow Commissioners to act on that

01:28:13.330 --> 01:28:17.535
as they were all aware, this
is important for authorizing

01:28:17.535 --> 01:28:19.900
RDOF here in California.

01:28:19.900 --> 01:28:22.750
And again, on that new
federal funding page,

01:28:22.750 --> 01:28:27.750
we will have a link to the new
ETC streamlining resolution.

01:28:28.300 --> 01:28:30.837
There are other requirements
that our Commission has

01:28:30.837 --> 01:28:32.380
at the state level.

01:28:32.380 --> 01:28:36.211
I won't bore you and get
into those here, but again,

01:28:36.211 --> 01:28:40.030
Commissioner Guzman Aceves
and her colleagues have set up

01:28:40.030 --> 01:28:45.030
a specific process to assist
those of you that may want

01:28:45.330 --> 01:28:49.830
to bid in this process
but are not today ETC's.

01:28:49.830 --> 01:28:54.830
So thank you Michael, so
much for bringing that up.

01:28:55.324 --> 01:29:00.324
Couple of more WISP
questions, two or three

01:29:00.922 --> 01:29:03.470
from the same questioner.

01:29:03.470 --> 01:29:07.154
Number one, can we only bid on projects

01:29:07.154 --> 01:29:11.360
in the FCC listed opportunity area?

01:29:11.360 --> 01:29:14.410
I would call that RDOF eligibility area.

01:29:14.410 --> 01:29:19.410
If we know that the 477
derived map is inaccurate

01:29:19.870 --> 01:29:24.870
in a particular area, for
example, so this WIPS provider

01:29:26.100 --> 01:29:31.100
is saying, can we go in and
seek RDOF funds, Michael,

01:29:31.450 --> 01:29:36.450
if we know there's in our
mind, a fault in the underlying

01:29:36.460 --> 01:29:40.713
477-data that generated
the RDOF eligibility.

01:29:45.930 --> 01:29:48.410
<v Michael>Now thank you for
the question, but I would need</v>

01:29:48.410 --> 01:29:53.240
a bit more information
to be able to answer it.

01:29:53.240 --> 01:29:57.330
I mean, it sounds as
though the question is

01:29:57.330 --> 01:30:01.213
if we disagree with the
eligibility determination,

01:30:03.140 --> 01:30:04.880
can we bid on the area?

01:30:04.880 --> 01:30:08.210
Well, first of all,
this would only arise

01:30:08.210 --> 01:30:11.000
in a situation where there's
an area that is designated

01:30:11.000 --> 01:30:14.940
as eligible, but a provider
thinks that it should

01:30:14.940 --> 01:30:19.940
be ineligible and
providers are able to bid

01:30:20.740 --> 01:30:23.103
on the areas that are eligible.

01:30:25.405 --> 01:30:29.030
You know, we have to
take images of the data

01:30:29.030 --> 01:30:31.370
at certain points of
time and move forward.

01:30:31.370 --> 01:30:33.610
And we are going to release a new list

01:30:33.610 --> 01:30:35.783
and updated list of eligibility.

01:30:35.783 --> 01:30:39.720
And then providers are
welcome to bid on all of the areas

01:30:39.720 --> 01:30:43.283
that are designated as
eligible for the auction.

01:30:46.260 --> 01:30:47.599
<v ->Excellent Michael.</v>

01:30:47.599 --> 01:30:52.599
On that particular question,
could you again send an email

01:30:54.130 --> 01:30:57.193
of inquiry to our email address,

01:30:58.159 --> 01:31:02.970
federalbroadbandfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

01:31:02.970 --> 01:31:07.290
And we will work with you
to look at what our data says.

01:31:07.290 --> 01:31:11.100
You can look at the California
interactive broadband map

01:31:11.100 --> 01:31:13.030
to assist you there as well.

01:31:13.030 --> 01:31:16.080
And we will certainly reach
out to Michael and his staff

01:31:16.080 --> 01:31:20.170
to help you answer that
question about eligibility

01:31:20.170 --> 01:31:25.157
and what California or FCC may show.

01:31:25.157 --> 01:31:30.130
Again, we have no questions
holding on our phone lines.

01:31:30.130 --> 01:31:32.180
If you're on a phone line and would like

01:31:32.180 --> 01:31:36.420
to issue a question,
please hit star one.

01:31:36.420 --> 01:31:39.393
And the operator will
flag our tech staff here.

01:31:40.630 --> 01:31:42.620
Otherwise I believe we have

01:31:42.620 --> 01:31:45.610
gone through all of our questions.

01:31:45.610 --> 01:31:50.090
We'll give it a moment or so
to see if any others come in.

01:31:50.090 --> 01:31:53.130
And again, if we haven't
answered your question,

01:31:53.130 --> 01:31:56.730
either ourselves or
I take it as my fault,

01:31:56.730 --> 01:32:00.470
if I didn't interpret your
question correctly for Michael.

01:32:00.470 --> 01:32:04.540
Please send us an inquiry
over that new email address.

01:32:04.540 --> 01:32:07.510
We will work with
Michael and our own staff

01:32:07.510 --> 01:32:11.630
to answer it the very best
we can and to bring you

01:32:11.630 --> 01:32:16.340
into other the appropriate
CPUC or the RDOF program

01:32:16.340 --> 01:32:19.893
or other federal programs
that may be applicable.

01:32:20.920 --> 01:32:24.170
<v Alex>Peter, it looks like
we have one question</v>

01:32:24.170 --> 01:32:25.940
that's currently being written in,

01:32:25.940 --> 01:32:29.493
one question regarding
standalone voice service,

01:32:34.004 --> 01:32:35.950
<v ->Thank you. Thank you, Alex.</v>

01:32:35.950 --> 01:32:36.783
Yes.

01:32:36.783 --> 01:32:39.440
We just have a follow-on
question that has come in

01:32:39.440 --> 01:32:42.900
Michael, in regards
to questions about bids

01:32:42.900 --> 01:32:47.900
on eligible RDOF areas,
I think folks are asking

01:32:48.900 --> 01:32:51.990
if there is any possibility
of a winning bid

01:32:51.990 --> 01:32:55.940
being challenged by a
carrier saying they serve

01:32:55.940 --> 01:32:57.950
the location already.

01:32:57.950 --> 01:33:00.180
So Michael that's, a
little more information

01:33:00.180 --> 01:33:03.565
about the 477-based
question that I just asked.

01:33:03.565 --> 01:33:08.565
If a RDOF winning bid is awarded by FCC,

01:33:10.880 --> 01:33:15.180
what can provider do
that believes that they

01:33:15.180 --> 01:33:16.903
already serve that area?

01:33:19.780 --> 01:33:22.670
<v Michael>Once the final
eligible areas are established,</v>

01:33:22.670 --> 01:33:25.920
then the auction will
proceed to award funding

01:33:25.920 --> 01:33:30.640
to the potentially eligible
areas is guaranteed

01:33:30.640 --> 01:33:32.423
to be won in the auction.

01:33:33.420 --> 01:33:36.570
Once the final eligible
areas are established,

01:33:36.570 --> 01:33:39.150
then the auction proceeds to potentially

01:33:39.150 --> 01:33:41.310
award support to those areas.

01:33:41.310 --> 01:33:45.396
Not all aware areas will win support,

01:33:45.396 --> 01:33:50.396
can be successful bids on
any of those areas, are awarded.

01:33:50.950 --> 01:33:54.860
Then if the applicant
completes, the process,

01:33:54.860 --> 01:33:56.623
support will be authorized.

01:34:00.670 --> 01:34:01.973
<v ->Thank you for that.</v>

01:34:02.920 --> 01:34:05.390
Verizon conference
operator, we understand

01:34:05.390 --> 01:34:08.210
you have a call holding.

01:34:08.210 --> 01:34:11.123
Could you send that question over to us?

01:34:23.120 --> 01:34:25.110
We're waiting for the
conference operator

01:34:25.110 --> 01:34:27.130
to bring forward a verbal question

01:34:27.130 --> 01:34:29.350
we have on the phone lines.

01:34:29.350 --> 01:34:31.440
Robert, Joe, is there
anything else we should do

01:34:31.440 --> 01:34:32.540
to bring that forward?

01:34:48.150 --> 01:34:50.460
Participants, please hold just a moment

01:34:50.460 --> 01:34:51.910
where we thought we had a call.

01:34:51.910 --> 01:34:54.260
We're checking it across
the conference bridge.

01:34:59.920 --> 01:35:00.770
<v Male>Calling user two.</v>

01:35:00.770 --> 01:35:02.220
Is this the Verizon operator?

01:35:04.090 --> 01:35:05.937
<v Caller>Hi, can you hear me?</v>

01:35:05.937 --> 01:35:07.360
<v ->That's fine.</v>

01:35:07.360 --> 01:35:09.102
We can hear you.

01:35:09.102 --> 01:35:10.430
<v Caller>Thank you.</v>

01:35:10.430 --> 01:35:11.930
You can't hear me?

01:35:14.145 --> 01:35:16.380
<v ->We can hear you fine.</v>

01:35:16.380 --> 01:35:17.830
<v Caller>Oh, beautiful, thank you.</v>

01:35:17.830 --> 01:35:21.800
My question is in regards
to a previous statement

01:35:21.800 --> 01:35:26.800
that Michael said, when
an awardee wins a bid,

01:35:26.940 --> 01:35:29.550
he was mentioning that we need to serve

01:35:29.550 --> 01:35:31.680
a hundred percent of
the area by year eight.

01:35:31.680 --> 01:35:33.392
I believe is what he said.

01:35:33.392 --> 01:35:37.260
I was hoping for some
clarification on that.

01:35:37.260 --> 01:35:40.600
Did he mean that we have
to have a hundred percent

01:35:40.600 --> 01:35:43.940
of the location and offer the service?

01:35:43.940 --> 01:35:46.640
Or could he mean that
regardless of whether or not

01:35:46.640 --> 01:35:48.690
the person wants the service

01:35:48.690 --> 01:35:50.800
that we have to build
up to their promise?

01:35:50.800 --> 01:35:53.743
So I was hoping for some
clarification on that, please.

01:35:54.630 --> 01:35:55.463
<v ->Thank you, caller.</v>

01:35:55.463 --> 01:35:56.900
Michael, could you assist that caller

01:35:56.900 --> 01:35:59.060
in clarifying the
build-out requirements?

01:35:59.060 --> 01:35:59.893
It sounds like.

01:36:00.820 --> 01:36:02.880
<v Michael>Yes. And
this is a great question.</v>

01:36:02.880 --> 01:36:03.754
Thank you.

01:36:03.754 --> 01:36:06.220
The requirement is that you be able

01:36:06.220 --> 01:36:09.900
to serve that location within 10 days.

01:36:09.900 --> 01:36:13.380
So no, you do not need
to wire every location,

01:36:13.380 --> 01:36:14.670
but you need to have the ability

01:36:14.670 --> 01:36:16.533
to serve the location within 10 days.

01:36:19.750 --> 01:36:20.750
<v Caller>Thank you</v>

01:36:21.860 --> 01:36:24.543
<v ->Caller, do you have a
follow-up question or was that it?</v>

01:36:25.750 --> 01:36:27.330
<v Caller>That was it. Thank you.</v>

01:36:27.330 --> 01:36:29.810
<v ->Thank you so
much for calling in.</v>

01:36:29.810 --> 01:36:30.860
Thank you, Michael.

01:36:30.860 --> 01:36:35.860
I'll swing back to another
text question again.

01:36:37.939 --> 01:36:40.700
It co-mingles the issues of a WISP

01:36:40.700 --> 01:36:43.610
without current voice services

01:36:43.610 --> 01:36:46.475
and the rules of a consortium.

01:36:46.475 --> 01:36:48.460
I'll read it to you.

01:36:48.460 --> 01:36:52.500
Can a WISP, who does not
provide voice services today

01:36:52.500 --> 01:36:55.960
form a consortium,
sounds like a partnership,

01:36:55.960 --> 01:36:58.073
with a VIOP provider.

01:37:01.050 --> 01:37:06.050
<v Michael>So the consortium
allows various entities</v>

01:37:07.650 --> 01:37:09.840
to bid together in the auction

01:37:09.840 --> 01:37:12.610
as one applicant and one bidder.

01:37:12.610 --> 01:37:14.370
And there are not restrictions

01:37:14.370 --> 01:37:17.577
on which applicants can enter,

01:37:17.577 --> 01:37:21.000
which type of applicants
can enter a consortium.

01:37:21.000 --> 01:37:25.950
So you can have an existing
telecommunications provider

01:37:25.950 --> 01:37:28.560
and a non-telecommunications provider

01:37:28.560 --> 01:37:30.453
in the same consortium.

01:37:32.747 --> 01:37:35.550
When the auction is
complete, if the consortium

01:37:35.550 --> 01:37:40.200
has been awarded support,
it can divide its winning bids

01:37:41.190 --> 01:37:45.770
and the authorized
recipient will then be subject

01:37:45.770 --> 01:37:49.530
to the build-out
requirements, which include

01:37:49.530 --> 01:37:52.523
the deployment of
standalone voice services.

01:37:54.020 --> 01:37:59.020
And so, yes, a non-voice
subscriber can enter

01:37:59.860 --> 01:38:02.510
into a consortium
with a voice subscriber

01:38:02.510 --> 01:38:05.770
or other non-voice
subscribers, but support

01:38:05.770 --> 01:38:10.770
will only be authorized to
entities that are designated

01:38:11.210 --> 01:38:15.000
as ETC's and are required
under the program rules

01:38:15.000 --> 01:38:18.773
to offer standalone voice
during the support term.

01:38:21.900 --> 01:38:26.630
<v ->Excellent. And Michael, just
as you were answering that,</v>

01:38:26.630 --> 01:38:28.850
a live question came in.

01:38:28.850 --> 01:38:33.087
What makes voice service
quote, stand-alone, close quotes,

01:38:34.880 --> 01:38:38.683
what does stand-alone
mean under FCC regs?

01:38:41.360 --> 01:38:45.700
<v Michael>We have some
documents that address this</v>

01:38:45.700 --> 01:38:49.460
and if you email auction904@fcc.gov,

01:38:49.460 --> 01:38:52.670
we can show you the specific language.

01:38:52.670 --> 01:38:57.670
Generally, what it means is
that a consumer can subscribe

01:38:57.740 --> 01:39:02.390
to voice services as
a standalone offering

01:39:02.390 --> 01:39:04.990
from that provider and that provider

01:39:04.990 --> 01:39:07.223
will support that subscription.

01:39:12.510 --> 01:39:13.820
<v ->Okay.</v>

01:39:13.820 --> 01:39:15.040
Thank you for that.

01:39:15.040 --> 01:39:18.863
A lot of questions on
voice services obviously,

01:39:18.863 --> 01:39:23.863
back to an eligibility
question, but at this point,

01:39:24.150 --> 01:39:27.220
looking at a corporate
form, if you will,

01:39:27.220 --> 01:39:30.600
are bankrupt companies
eligible for RDOF?

01:39:30.600 --> 01:39:34.023
If so, then what do
financials really mean?

01:39:37.990 --> 01:39:40.650
<v Michael>Well, the first
part of that question</v>

01:39:40.650 --> 01:39:44.910
is answered in paragraph
77 of the report in order

01:39:44.910 --> 01:39:46.840
that was adopted in January.

01:39:46.840 --> 01:39:49.400
And what the Commission said there

01:39:49.400 --> 01:39:53.930
is that we declined to bar
participants that have defaulted

01:39:53.930 --> 01:39:56.526
in other universal service programs

01:39:56.526 --> 01:39:58.900
or that have filed for bankruptcy,

01:39:58.900 --> 01:40:00.730
or that have been bankrupt in the past

01:40:00.730 --> 01:40:02.430
from participating in the program.

01:40:03.510 --> 01:40:05.630
The financial review that is conducted

01:40:05.630 --> 01:40:08.140
as part of the short form application

01:40:08.140 --> 01:40:10.640
is an initial determination
of whether or not

01:40:10.640 --> 01:40:12.410
the applicant should be qualified

01:40:12.410 --> 01:40:14.457
to participate in the auction.

01:40:14.457 --> 01:40:18.690
And that is what is the
purpose of that particular appeal.

01:40:18.690 --> 01:40:22.640
Any more detailed analysis,
as well as the submission

01:40:22.640 --> 01:40:24.670
of our irrevocable letter of credit

01:40:24.670 --> 01:40:27.570
with bankruptcy protection is required

01:40:27.570 --> 01:40:30.270
during the long form application process

01:40:30.270 --> 01:40:32.663
before any support is authorized.

01:40:35.000 --> 01:40:37.423
<v ->Excellent. Michael,
thank you for that.</v>

01:40:37.423 --> 01:40:41.820
One of our regional
broadband consortia managers

01:40:41.820 --> 01:40:45.480
covering a lot of Northern
California is asking

01:40:45.480 --> 01:40:49.010
a question relative
to the CAF II Program.

01:40:49.010 --> 01:40:53.560
He says in previous CAF
Auctions, some awardees

01:40:53.560 --> 01:40:57.310
switched awarded areas to other areas,

01:40:57.310 --> 01:40:59.760
less expensive to deploy.

01:40:59.760 --> 01:41:04.180
Would RDOF grantees be
allowed to switch awarded areas

01:41:04.180 --> 01:41:09.083
to other areas that are less
expensive to build network in?

01:41:13.617 --> 01:41:16.500
<v Michael>Without
knowing the specifics</v>

01:41:20.746 --> 01:41:24.400
of this questioner's
interpretation of the CAF II results.

01:41:24.400 --> 01:41:27.078
And what has come out of CAF II,

01:41:27.078 --> 01:41:30.360
I cannot comment on what
has occurred in the past

01:41:30.360 --> 01:41:33.870
or in that context
because, but what I can say

01:41:33.870 --> 01:41:38.257
is that applicants apply
to participate in the auction

01:41:38.257 --> 01:41:42.670
by indicating which states
they intend to compete in

01:41:42.670 --> 01:41:45.573
and compliance is also
determined at the state level.

01:41:49.170 --> 01:41:50.960
<v ->Excellent. Thank you for that.</v>

01:41:50.960 --> 01:41:53.980
And again, questioner,
if you want to follow up,

01:41:53.980 --> 01:41:58.980
as Michael says with specifics
in your given area, please

01:41:59.820 --> 01:42:04.820
email us right away,
federalbroadbandfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

01:42:05.700 --> 01:42:08.910
We'll work with you
and our GIS team to look

01:42:08.910 --> 01:42:12.860
at the specific CAF
awardee that's involved.

01:42:12.860 --> 01:42:14.040
And thank you for that.

01:42:14.040 --> 01:42:17.100
Michael, we work closely
with the state outreach side

01:42:17.100 --> 01:42:19.350
of USARC, and they were very supportive

01:42:19.350 --> 01:42:23.740
of helping us run down
answers for questions like this.

01:42:23.740 --> 01:42:27.870
Lastly, I wanted to say, we
have about 15 minutes left.

01:42:27.870 --> 01:42:31.910
We see several questions
that I wanted to make sure

01:42:31.910 --> 01:42:36.910
we from the CPC staff answered
several similar questions.

01:42:37.250 --> 01:42:40.610
How does a small
unserved rural community

01:42:40.610 --> 01:42:45.610
without a provider or without
a provider that's interested

01:42:45.700 --> 01:42:48.880
in upgrading their network to at least

01:42:48.880 --> 01:42:52.780
these RDOF minimum standards of 25/3.

01:42:52.780 --> 01:42:56.440
What can this community do to reach out,

01:42:56.440 --> 01:43:00.270
to try to secure some
of this federal money

01:43:00.270 --> 01:43:01.460
or state money?

01:43:01.460 --> 01:43:04.610
Again, please do not
hesitate to reach us

01:43:04.610 --> 01:43:07.413
in the communications
division of the CPUC.

01:43:08.380 --> 01:43:12.740
The Director of our state
CAF program, Louise Fisher,

01:43:12.740 --> 01:43:15.940
was just sitting in with
us here in the auditorium

01:43:15.940 --> 01:43:18.250
and federal effort in the state effort

01:43:18.250 --> 01:43:23.250
are closely coordinated
to provide as much funding

01:43:23.340 --> 01:43:26.770
as possible to rural
communities across California.

01:43:26.770 --> 01:43:30.980
So please email us if you can identify

01:43:30.980 --> 01:43:35.100
a specific carrier, a
specific community.

01:43:35.100 --> 01:43:40.100
Again, that's a
broadbandfederalfunding@cpuc.ca.gov.

01:43:45.240 --> 01:43:48.540
That should get it to us. Thank you.

01:43:48.540 --> 01:43:52.180
With that, we don't see more questions

01:43:52.180 --> 01:43:55.460
on the phone lines or
had come in over WebEx.

01:43:55.460 --> 01:43:58.690
Thank you, Robert,
with that, I'd like to ask

01:43:58.690 --> 01:44:03.540
our Director Rob Osborne
for any concluding remarks

01:44:03.540 --> 01:44:06.770
and to talk a little bit,
I'm looking at the slide

01:44:06.770 --> 01:44:10.417
that we've prepared for
resources, communities

01:44:10.417 --> 01:44:13.590
and providers, go after these funds.

01:44:13.590 --> 01:44:14.940
Thank you, Rob.

01:44:14.940 --> 01:44:15.773
<v Alex>Sorry to interrupt.</v>

01:44:15.773 --> 01:44:18.703
We actually do have one more question.

01:44:20.200 --> 01:44:24.140
I did not, I did not see it, Alex.

01:44:24.140 --> 01:44:26.760
Alex, on the line, would
you like to read it please?

01:44:26.760 --> 01:44:29.100
I'm not on my screen.

01:44:29.100 --> 01:44:29.933
I apologize.

01:44:32.030 --> 01:44:33.928
<v Alex>The question is, are RDOF</v>

01:44:33.928 --> 01:44:38.680
and USDA broadband
programs like Reconnect,

01:44:38.680 --> 01:44:41.640
Community Connect, Broadband Loans,

01:44:41.640 --> 01:44:44.413
mutually exclusive
in order to eligibility.

01:44:45.700 --> 01:44:47.130
Thank you, Alex.

01:44:47.130 --> 01:44:51.220
And Michael, could you
take that you're well briefed

01:44:51.220 --> 01:44:54.120
in the other federal programs,
how do they relate to RDOF?

01:44:57.445 --> 01:45:01.090
<v Michael>Areas that have
received Reconnect grants,</v>

01:45:01.090 --> 01:45:04.410
The Commission decided
in January that those

01:45:04.410 --> 01:45:07.570
would not be areas that
are most in need of support.

01:45:07.570 --> 01:45:10.893
And so those areas
would not be eligible.

01:45:12.170 --> 01:45:16.920
I don't have more to say
at this point about loans,

01:45:16.920 --> 01:45:20.342
although I can say that I anticipate

01:45:20.342 --> 01:45:24.603
finding additional guidance
on that as soon as possible.

01:45:27.250 --> 01:45:30.062
With regard to the California programs,

01:45:30.062 --> 01:45:33.230
insofar as this question is about

01:45:33.230 --> 01:45:35.920
the limited challenge process.

01:45:35.920 --> 01:45:40.920
The challenge process was
an opportunity to identify areas

01:45:41.340 --> 01:45:46.231
that have already been
funded to provide 25/3 by state.

01:45:46.231 --> 01:45:49.190
And if those funding awards
have already been made

01:45:49.190 --> 01:45:51.890
or there's an execution commitment,

01:45:51.890 --> 01:45:55.190
then those funding awards
could remove those areas

01:45:55.190 --> 01:45:58.300
from the auction based
upon the Commission's view

01:45:58.300 --> 01:46:00.100
that those areas would not be the ones

01:46:00.100 --> 01:46:01.763
that are most in need of support.

01:46:05.920 --> 01:46:09.000
<v ->Excellent, Michael,
thanks so much for that.</v>

01:46:09.000 --> 01:46:12.000
With that, I'd ask our
Director, Rob Osborn

01:46:12.000 --> 01:46:14.830
to close and talk about
resources that have come

01:46:14.830 --> 01:46:17.790
up to support providers,
carriers, and communities

01:46:17.790 --> 01:46:19.660
interested in federal and state funding.

01:46:19.660 --> 01:46:20.860
Thank you, Rob.

01:46:20.860 --> 01:46:22.090
<v ->Thank you, Peter.</v>

01:46:22.090 --> 01:46:24.200
So this has been a very helpful overview

01:46:24.200 --> 01:46:26.310
on the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

01:46:26.310 --> 01:46:28.750
as evidenced by the number of questions.

01:46:28.750 --> 01:46:31.940
I hope your takeaway
from today's webinar

01:46:31.940 --> 01:46:33.240
are the following points.

01:46:33.240 --> 01:46:36.030
First' RDOF offers an
unprecedented opportunity

01:46:36.030 --> 01:46:38.010
for California to get federal money

01:46:38.010 --> 01:46:39.800
for broadband deployment.

01:46:39.800 --> 01:46:42.960
Second, the purpose of this
webinar is to raise awareness

01:46:42.960 --> 01:46:46.020
and to get as many
as bidders as possible

01:46:46.020 --> 01:46:49.870
to participate in the
October 29th reverse auction.

01:46:49.870 --> 01:46:51.140
This isn't a grant program.

01:46:51.140 --> 01:46:55.400
So if nobody bids, California
doesn't get any money.

01:46:55.400 --> 01:46:57.740
So, and just to follow on with that.

01:46:57.740 --> 01:47:00.280
If you don't file a short
form, you can't bid.

01:47:00.280 --> 01:47:02.810
So just to reiterate,
the very tight timeline

01:47:02.810 --> 01:47:04.900
as Director Janson
said, you should begin

01:47:04.900 --> 01:47:07.650
preparing your application now.

01:47:07.650 --> 01:47:10.010
June 15th, which is next Monday will be

01:47:10.010 --> 01:47:14.030
an auction application
tutorial available online.

01:47:14.030 --> 01:47:18.500
The short form application
window filing deadline

01:47:18.500 --> 01:47:20.730
will begin, the window
will open on July 1st

01:47:20.730 --> 01:47:23.070
and end on July 15th.

01:47:23.070 --> 01:47:24.350
So that's two weeks.

01:47:24.350 --> 01:47:26.603
And that will start in about two weeks.

01:47:27.580 --> 01:47:30.790
October 14th, there'll be
an auction bidding tutorial

01:47:30.790 --> 01:47:33.210
so that bidders can
go through the process,

01:47:33.210 --> 01:47:34.230
sort of a dry run.

01:47:34.230 --> 01:47:38.187
And then I'm sorry, the
tutorial will be on the 14th.

01:47:38.187 --> 01:47:40.250
The 26th will be the mock auction

01:47:40.250 --> 01:47:42.270
where bidders can go through a dry run.

01:47:42.270 --> 01:47:45.870
And then the 29th of
October the auction will begin.

01:47:45.870 --> 01:47:48.312
I want to thank Director
Janssen for making the time

01:47:48.312 --> 01:47:50.230
in your busy schedule to provide

01:47:50.230 --> 01:47:52.920
this very informative
overview for us in California.

01:47:52.920 --> 01:47:55.310
I also want to thank Peter
for your incredible hosting

01:47:55.310 --> 01:47:57.820
of this event and
thanks to Michael Pierce

01:47:57.820 --> 01:48:00.230
and Alex for fielding
audience questions,

01:48:00.230 --> 01:48:01.960
and also thanks to Robert Stanford

01:48:01.960 --> 01:48:04.217
for making this all possible online.

01:48:04.217 --> 01:48:06.590
In closing, we look forward to seeing

01:48:06.590 --> 01:48:09.050
many bidders filing
short form applications,

01:48:09.050 --> 01:48:11.350
so California can
maximize federal dollars

01:48:11.350 --> 01:48:12.503
coming into the state,

01:48:14.450 --> 01:48:15.283
Thank you.

01:48:36.230 --> 01:48:39.060
<v ->Our techs will
bring up the last slide</v>

01:48:39.060 --> 01:48:40.170
so yes, there we are.

01:48:40.170 --> 01:48:43.500
Please don't hesitate to
consult these resources.

01:48:43.500 --> 01:48:47.118
I note on the agenda,
we think we transposed

01:48:47.118 --> 01:48:50.862
one of the new email
addresses we'll try to bring up,

01:48:50.862 --> 01:48:54.130
it is correct on the slide you see here.

01:48:54.130 --> 01:48:57.080
I'll take that as my fault fully.

01:48:57.080 --> 01:49:00.849
We'll try to correct that
on any other publication.

01:49:00.849 --> 01:49:04.443
These are the new
resources we're working

01:49:04.443 --> 01:49:07.460
to bring up mapping to assist providers

01:49:07.460 --> 01:49:09.540
and carriers as well.

01:49:09.540 --> 01:49:11.451
Thanks to our Commissioner,

01:49:11.451 --> 01:49:15.300
Commissioner, Martha
Gusman Aceves, Rob Osborne,

01:49:15.300 --> 01:49:18.070
and particularly to you, Michael Janson,

01:49:18.070 --> 01:49:19.970
good day from the CPUC here

01:49:19.970 --> 01:49:22.150
at our headquarters in San Francisco.

01:49:22.150 --> 01:49:23.083
Thank you so much.