Garrett Wiseman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Mercury Broadband announced the company has been awarded approximately $62M in federal grants from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund or RDOF. The award will enable the company to accelerate construction of hybrid fixed wireless and fiber-optic broadband networks to over 122,000 underserved locations across the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.
On January 30, 2020, the Commission adopted the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Report and Order, which establishes the framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, building on the success of the CAF Phase II auction by using reverse auctions in two phases. The Phase I auction, which began on October 29, 2020, and ended on November 25, 2020, awarded support to bring broadband to over five million homes and businesses in census blocks that were entirely unserved by voice and broadband with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps. The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will ensure that networks stand the test of time by prioritizing higher network speeds and lower latency, so that those benefitting from these networks will be able to use tomorrow’s Internet applications as well as today’s.
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“We are proud that Mercury Broadband has been selected as one of the award winners for the FCC’s RDOF fund”, said Mr. Wiseman. “We are driven by our passion to deliver reliable, high quality broadband services to underserved communities. Receiving this funding will help us accelerate our timelines to bring our Mercury@Home and Mercury@Work services to residential and small business customers. We look forward to partnering with local leaders to launch these new broadband services and do our part to help close the digital divide across our country”, said Mr. Wiseman.
Both Mercury@Home and Mercury@Work will provide customers with a high-speed reliable Internet connection, a free commercial grade Momentum router, an easy-to-use Smartphone application, and access to enhanced privacy, security and management features. Business customers will receive dedicated account representatives, a direct toll-free business support line, local technicians for installation and repair, customer-friendly installation appointments, and priority repair support for any problems or service-affecting issues. Optional features include adding mesh extenders for improved Wi-Fi coverage at their residential or business location and VoIP telephone service as well.