Many of you by now are wondering why you are just now reading and learning about this.  Over the past year or so, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided access to billions of dollars (purportedly some $20.4 billion last year), taxpayer / rate-payer dollars, to companies interested in delivering much needed high-speed data to rural America.  URECC investigated such an option itself, as we have always been interested in enhancing data services in the rural areas of Northeast Texas.  In our review of the process in which these billions of dollars were provided through the FCC, it appears that any awards under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) must be fully delivered to each area awarded within ten years, with a majority of the buildout completed in six years.  As you might imagine, this is a monumental task and one that would require substantial investment dollars beyond the award, and frankly, one that seems almost insurmountable in some respects.         

  URECC determined that participation in such an effort was not reasonable or fiscally responsible for itself, and you, the members, and we have therefore been investigating other options to provide a much-needed, more affordable, and timely service to Northeast Texas without the government strings and deadlines.   One company did, however, participate in the process and was able to submit a bid low enough that it succeeded in obtaining a purported $23.3 Million in taxpayer /rate-payer dollars to meet the challenge just in the URECC territory.  That company is Charter Communications.  If Charter is successful in building out a system that can provide service to our members, that will be a good thing.  But it also appears that much more capital will be needed to make this formidable goal a reality within the six-to-ten-year time period required by the award. URECC's study indicated it would take some $100 Million for our territory alone. That $100 million would be funded by

URECC members.