Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2023
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a process to vet applicants for certain funding that supports affordable broadband deployment in high-cost areas, including rural communities.
Specifically, the process applies to applicants seeking funding under the high-cost universal service programs that provide competitive awards for broadband deployment.
As part of the process, the FCC must require applicants to provide a proposal for deploying the broadband network. The proposal must contain enough detail and documentation for the FCC to ascertain whether the applicant has the technical capabilities to deploy the proposed network and deliver services.
The FCC must evaluate proposals against reasonable and well-established technical standards.