FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON 'AfMISS\0' OFFICE OF April 11, 2014THE CHAIRMAN The Honorable Bob Goodlatte U.S. House of Representatives 2309 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman Goodlatte: Thank you for your letters regarding BARC Electric Cooperative (BARC) and MGW Networks, LLC (MGW), and their Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband deployment projects. I appreciate your views and will ensure that your letter will be included in the record of the proceeding and considered as part of the Commission's review. In a unanimously adopted Technology Transitions Order (Order) in January, the Commission recognized that particular challenges exist for the deployment of next generation communications services in rural areas. In order to inform our policies on building next generation networks in rural America, the Commission invited parties to submit expressions of interest to construct high bandwidth networks in rural, high-cost areas, including Tribal lands. Nearly 1,000 parties, representing a diverse set of entities, have filed expressions of interest. The list includes rural telephone companies, electric co-ops, cable and wireless Internet service providers, schools and libraries, research and education networks, and rural communities. Their proposals reflect the understanding that high bandwidth services are becoming increasingly important to the future of economic development, education, health care, government services, entertainment, information, communication and creativity. The Commission currently is reviewing the expressions of interest that have been submitted, including those of BARC and MGW, and we have sought public comment on a number of rural broadband experiment issues, including the size of the budget and selection criteria to be used in reviewing proposals. After completing a review of the submissions and the record in response to our further notice of proposed rulemaking, the Commission would adopt an order setting a budget and establishing detailed selection criteria for rural broadband experiments. At that point, we would invite parties, such as BARC and MGW, to submit formal proposals for consideration by Commission staff. I appreciate your interest in this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. A