FiberLight seeks to drop RDOF support for FWA builds in Georgia, Virginia

FiberLight is asking the FCC to sign off on a request to relinquish its awards through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) in Georgia and Virginia where the company was slated to deliver fixed wireless access (FWA) service.

In a letter filed with the FCC this week, the company said that, due "largely to unforeseeable circumstances," providing FWA service in the areas awarded "has become uneconomical."

"FiberLight is proposing to return the CBGs [census block groups] now so that enforceable commitments may be removed from the remaining unserved and underserved BSLs [broadband serviceable locations]. FiberLight believes these locations should be made eligible for other federal, state, or local subsidy programs, such as the largest ever federal investment in broadband, NTIA's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment ('BEAD') Program," the company wrote. "FiberLight has conducted calls with both the Georgia and Virginia Broadband Office Directors. Both States are aware that FiberLight has requested this return and are copied on this letter."

FiberLight cited a failed effort to acquire FWA assets in support of these deployments, as well as competition in the regions, as its reasons for wanting to withdraw.

"FiberLight since its inception has been a middle mile wholesale provider of lit transport, bundled and dark fiber services. As part of its RDOF strategy, FiberLight pursued two last mile Fixed Wireless Access ('FWA') acquisitions. This FWA acquisition would have led the deployment efforts in Georgia and Virginia to support the RDOF award. Both acquisitions failed to close," said the company in its FCC filing. "For FiberLight to now provide the FWA service in Virginia and Georgia, FiberLight would have to acquire or build service deployment, service support, billing, and other systems internally. The acquisition or building of these services makes the proposed FWA fiscally unsustainable."

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The company added that its proposed FWA services are "no longer competitive" in a large portion of the awarded areas because "significant deployments of high bandwidth, low latency terrestrial broadband service have been made by other last mile providers in the awarded CBGs."

Specifically, 676 of the 3,871 locations awarded to FiberLight in Virginia are now served with terrestrial broadband, including "381 by Xfinity/Comcast; the rest by Fiber Lync and All Points Broadband which both offer Fiber to the Premises service," said FiberLight, referencing data from the FCC's broadband map.

In Georgia, the company said, 416 of the 906 locations awarded to FiberLight are now served (including 388 by Charter/Spectrum).

"For these reasons, FiberLight is proposing to return these CBGs and all funding associated with the FiberLight RDOF awards in Georgia and Virginia to the FCC," said FiberLight.

According to the company's FCC filing this week, it has thus far been awarded $152,596.80 through RDOF, with the last payment made in May 2023.

"FiberLight reserves and retains its right to seek relief from any penalties, including waiver of the Commission's rules, as well as seek other relief as may be necessary," the company added.

'First venture'

FiberLight was initially approved to win $1.77 million through RDOF to reach 4,665 locations in three states. The FCC later authorized FiberLight to receive $458,892 for 687 estimated locations in Georgia, and $1.1 million for 3,038 estimated locations in Virginia. 

The company, which builds high-capacity fiber networks and was acquired by a consortium led by Morrison & Co in 2023, was initially planning to use its RDOF support to construct FWA networks through a series of strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

"We know the technology is going that way," Ron Kormos, FiberLight's chief strategy officer, told Light Reading of the company's plans in 2021. "This is going to be our first venture into wireless directly."