FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants the agency to move ahead with plans to make targeted investments in the deployment of wireless broadband services in rural communities. She shared with her colleagues proposed rules that if passed, would relaunch the 5G Fund for Rural America.
In 2020, the FCC agreed to rules to create the fund by using a reverse auction to allocate $9 billion from its Universal Service Fund. Commissioners decided to wait until new broadband maps were created to determine where the money should be used. Now, the fund would use the agency’s new mobile broadband coverage maps. They show more than 14 million homes and businesses lack mobile 5G coverage, according to Rosenworcel.
“For the first time in our history of supporting wireless networks through the universal service system, this agency has comprehensive data about where service is and is not all across the country,” said Rosenworcel. “This will be the foundation of our plan to expand the 5G service in rural America to where it is needed most—where people live, work and travel.”
The point of the auction is to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the country unlikely to otherwise see unsubsidized deployment of 5G-capable networks, says the FCC. The fund would include up to $900 million in incentives for incorporating O-RAN in 5G Fund-supported networks and reap what it says would be the associated benefits for competition, national security, and supply chain reliability.
The Second Report and Order would take steps to improve the program, including:
- modifying the definition of areas eligible for the auction and ensuring that areas in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that meet the criteria would be included in the 5G Fund auction;
- increasing the budget for Phase I of the 5G Fund auction and the Tribal reserve budget—a set-aside portion of the fund to support connecting Tribal communities; and requiring 5G Fund support recipients to implement cybersecurity; and
- supply chain risk management plans as a condition of receiving support.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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