The question is: which private telco companies will the FCC select?

Among the FCC’s most viable options in selecting telecommunications suppliers is the utilization of reverse auction to award contracts. The FCC could implement reverse auction services to create competitive pricing between companies and thus incentivize suppliers to extend their services at the lowest price possible by selecting to award the lowest bidding supplier with financial assistance.

There are, however, some significant obstacles to the reverse auction process’ successful implementation here. First, satellite-based internet suppliers would have a significant leg-up in the bidding process as their services require considerably less installation overhead than cable-based services. Should they still be allowed to compete in the bidding process? Second, AT&T and Verizon already have a significant amount of market-share and are most likely the favored suppliers going in, which leads us to the question of: will this bidding process further oust business from smaller, local telecommunications providers?

eBridge recommends that the FCC explore the viability of this purchase through reverse auction. While reverse auction can be an incredible tool, it may not be the perfect fit in this particular application. If some suppliers are more capable than others in fulfilling bid specifications, perhaps the FCC should table their use of reverse auction to a different project. eBridge takes leadership not only in the execution of the reverse auction process , but also in preliminary analysis to determine the viability of reverse auction in specific applications. Half the battle is finding the right fit for reverse auction to be successful.