Earlier this week, Qwest Communications International, a broadband provider in the mostly rural Mountain West region of the U.S., also said it would not apply for broadband stimulus funds, with the company pointing to the complaints raised by USTelecom. Many rural areas are among the parts of the U.S. without broadband service.

Qwest has about 2.9 million broadband customers. AT&T is the largest broadband provider in the U.S. with 16.9 million subscribers, and Comcast is second with 15.3 million customers. Verizon counts 9.1 million subscribers, and Time Warner has about 9 million subscribers.

A RUS representative downplayed any potential concerns about the big providers not applying. The RUS and NTIA extended the application deadline for the first round of funding because the number of applications was slowing down the agencies' servers.

The number of applicants is not yet available.

"We are seeing strong interest from potential applicants, but we are not going to give preliminary numbers or speculate on the amount of applications that will be submitted," said Bartel Kendrick, the RUS spokesman. "The choice to apply is a decision made by the company."