VCTI Helps Narrow the Digital Divide with RDOF Planning Service

Wireline-Wireless Analytics to Strengthen FCC RDOF Bid Strategies and Decisions

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May 27, 2020, 13:45 ET

SOMERSET, N.J., May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- VCTI, the broadband network experts, today announced the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Planning Service to help broadband service providers decide where and if to bid and how to optimize bids for success in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) upcoming RDOF auction process. The new service will provide analysis of the cost, speed and latency "weighting" per Census Block to provide target service levels optimized for fiber to the home, fixed wireless and hybrid architectures. This detailed comparative analysis of prospective markets provides the critical insight broadband service providers need to refine their bid strategies and packages with unmatched precision and confidence.

The Phase I auction begins on October 22, 2020 and is expected to target over six million homes and businesses in census blocks that are entirely unserved by voice and broadband with download speeds of at least 25 Mbps. A combination of speed and latency performance will be determining factors for the RDOF winning bids, with a minimum speed criteria of 25 Mbps and preference to delivering gig services to households. In this highly competitive auction process, the caliber of the analysis on prospective markets, in particular understanding the interplay of cost to deploy with fiber or with fixed wireless and effect on bid weighting and revenue potential, is critical in developing bids that will have the highest probability of success and profitability.

The RDOF Planning Service is built on VCTI NOCPlan™, an automated planning tool that compares different architectures and deployment options by accurately optimizing plans by cost, speed and throughput. Network design efficiencies are analyzed to uncover the best methods to reach performance targets with the optimized investment in fiber, towers, and equipment. Integrated, optimized fixed wireless and fiber plans that deliver the best possible speeds to the most households are disclosed so that service providers can expand addressable markets.

"Nothing in our past has exposed the digital divide as has the recent pandemic. Funding through the FCC's RDOF is paramount to expanding broadband infrastructure to rural communities," said Raj Singh, CEO, VCTI. "The RDOF Planning service gives broadband service providers the analytics needed to develop successful bids with confidence."

About VCTI

VCTI is a world-class provider of software products and technical expertise for communications services providers and the equipment vendors embedded in their networks. VCTI offers solutions for service providers that enable automation and optimization of network evolution planning, automate, simplify and streamline network operations in multi-vendor environments, and extract value from legacy operations to build a bridge to a digital future.

These solutions enable service providers to drive a stronger ROI from their network engineering and operations investments, grow their broadband subscriber base, and build a more successful, robust path to a digital future. VCTI technology is found in the access networks of more than 500 service providers, globally. For further information, visit us at www.vcti.io

SOURCE VCTI