Tower Co-location Clarified in Mobility Fund Order

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The FCC resolved the remaining objections to its decisions in the February 2017 Mobility Fund Phase II Report and Order. That’s when the Commission adopted rules to move forward with the MF-II auction, which will provide up to $4.53 billion in high-cost support over 10 years to extend high-speed mobile voice and broadband coverage to unserved and underserved areas.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said yesterday, the agency is taking “weedy but important steps. The item clarifies the tower co-location requirement for funding recipients and helps small companies by relaxing the letter of credit requirements.” The actions take the agency closer to holding a wireless spectrum auction, he said.

The Commission received seven petitions for reconsideration. In August 2017, the Commission resolved the petitions for reconsideration that raised issues related to the MF-II challenge process, but it deferred consideration of the remaining issues. Yesterday’s order addresses those remaining issues as follows:

  • Grants requests for clarification that the co-location requirement for MF-II applies to all newly constructed towers;
  • Grants in part and denies in part requests regarding MF-II recipients’ obligation to obtain and maintain a letter of credit (LOC) by modifying LOC requirements to be consistent with those for recipients of Connect America Fund Phase II support (the fixed broadband counterpart to this mobile broadband program);
  • Denies requests to modify the MF-II budget and disbursement schedule;
  • Denies requests to modify performance metrics, bidding credits, and the treatment of equipment exclusivity agreements, and;
  • Denies requests to limit the Universal Service Administrative Corporation’s role in testing MF-II recipients’ compliance with performance metrics, public interest obligations, or other program requirements.

In reaction to the vote, CTIA SVP Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann said: “We share the FCC’s goal of delivering critical mobile wireless services to unserved rural areas of our country. We’re pleased that the FCC continues to make progress on that goal through the Mobility Fund.”

February 23, 2018

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