The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has designated Connect Everyone LLC (Starry) as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) in certain high-cost areas in Alabama and Virginia where Starry won Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) support in Auction 904. Though Starry’s ETC petition had been challenged by the Ensuring RDOF Integrity Coalition (ERIC) based on limitations of the millimeter wave technology that Starry was proposing to use as part of its RDOF buildout, the Bureau noted that this ETC designation “does not duplicate the Bureau’s multifaceted, objective, and consistent process for evaluating … long-form applications or future performance licenses” and that the decision of whether to award Starry’s RDOF authorizations would be separately announced.
