The State of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
While there has been much in recent news about the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding program, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) has been steadily driving progress in closing the digital divide. However, RDOF has also faced significant challenges, with nearly one third ($3.3 billion out of $9.2 billion) of total RDOF awards defaulted in 2025 according to a recent study by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
The Real Impact of Defaults
Defaults on RDOF commitments carry serious consequences. Providers that default face fines and penalties that continue to escalate. In July 2022, the FCC proposed $4.3 million in fines against 73 RDOF applicants who failed to fulfill their commitments. By May 2023, this number had grown by $8 million for 22 additional applicants. Most recently, in December 2023, the FCC issued $22 million in fines to two ISPs for failing to deliver on their obligations.
But the financial penalties are only part of the story. Nearly 1.9 million eligible households will be left without broadband access due to those defaults. Worst yet, they won’t be eligible for BEAD funding either, according to the NTIA.
How Bad Is the Default Situation?
The Benton Institute’s analysis of FCC data reveals that many states are seeing a high incidence of defaults. For example, in California, a staggering 94% of RDOF awards are in default. Nationwide, about 37% of all RDOF-eligible households are at risk of missing out on high-speed broadband service. As providers approach their required buildout milestones, the number of defaults may only increase, along with the financial and reputational consequences.
Avoiding Default: A Smarter Approach to RDOF
The primary reason service providers are defaulting on their RDOF awards is the rising cost of deploying fiber networks. In many cases, the economics of fiber builds, which were challenging from the outset, no longer make sense, leaving providers feeling they have no choice but to default.
But there is a better way.
Providers who proposed building fiber networks did so because it was seen as a requirement to provide gigabit service. But with next-generation fixed wireless (ngFWA) networks, fiber is no longer the only way to fulfill RDOF obligations.
ngFWA combines three core principals that make it advantageous for RDOF: gigabit speeds, rapid deployment, and wireless economics. With speeds of up to 1 Gbps/500 Mbps, Tarana’s G1 ngFWA platform can amply meet the speed requirements of RDOF. ngFWA can also be deployed in weeks or months and at a fraction of the cost of fiber. Deployment speed is particularly important as providers hit milestones this year whereby 40% or more of their network must be built out in order to stay in compliance.
With high speeds, faster buildout, and better economics, ngFWA can be rapidly deployed as an entire network or as the perfect complement to fiber to lower overall project costs.
G1: The Next Generation of FWA
G1’s innovative breakthroughs create an entirely new paradigm for building and growing fixed wireless access networks that make gigabit broadband possible where legacy fixed wireless would fail. This includes:
- Unmatched Interference Cancellation: G1’s interference and noise cancellation ensures reliable, high-speed connectivity even in crowded, noisy RF environments.
- Superior Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) Performance: Rugged terrain and trees can block legacy wireless technologies, making links either unusable or very poorly performing. G1 overcomes this with fine-grain Tx and Rx digital beamforming, distributed massive MIMO at both ends of the link, and perfect multipath integration.
- Scalability and Speed: Operators can deploy gigabit broadband at large scale in weeks, not months or years. High-speed connectivity is deployed faster—accelerating service and revenue timelines.
The Clear Path Forward
For RDOF recipients, defaulting doesn’t have to be the only option. By leveraging Tarana’s ngFWA platform, providers can meet their commitments, avoid costly fines, and bring reliable broadband to underserved communities—faster and more economically than a pure fiber approach .
RDOF isn’t just about compliance, it’s about delivering on the promise of connectivity. With the right technology, service providers can turn their RDOF obligations into a success story — one that benefits businesses, communities, and their bottom line.
If you just can’t wait to learn more, check out our other blogs or some of our favorite customer links. Or reach out to us at info@taranawireless.com. We’d love to hear from you.