Lumen Defaults on More Than 41,000 RDOF Locations
Telecom giant offers no reason for relinquishments
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2025 – Lumen Technologies announced Friday that it was relinquishing control of over 41,000 Rural Digital Opportunity Fund locations spread across eight states and 153 census block groups.
In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau Chief Joseph Calascione, Lumen stated that it was “returning all census block groups (“CBGs”) where it was awarded RDOF funding” in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington.
Headed by CEO Kate Johnson, the Monroe, La. based internet-service provider did not give a reason for the relinquishment, stating only that it “understands that it will no longer be entitled to receive further RDOF support for the surrendered CBGs and that it may be subject to applicable non-compliance rules.”
Lumen, then known as CenturyLink, won the rights to over 77,000 locations in a December 2020 reverse auction hosted by the Federal Communications Commission. The ISP previously defaulted on over 3,500 locations in August 2024, including all of its planned locations in Wyoming, New Mexico, and South Dakota, and most of its locations in Colorado. At that time, it blamed rising deployment costs and inaccurate location counts for its default.
Collectively, the surrendered locations total over half of all locations awarded to Lumen by the RDOF program. The default is particularly pertinent to residents of Montana, Washington, and Oregon, states where Lumen held 21 percent, 15 percent, and 11 percent of all RDOF locations respectively.
Lumen joins a growing list of companies that have defaulted in recent months on their RDOF obligations. As of March, over $3.3 billion of the $9.2 billion awarded in the RDOF auction has been defaulted on, though most defaults have occurred before final approvals.
Though it is uncertain what penalties, if any, the company might face, the FCC has made known its intention to hold defaulting program participants accountable.
