FCC Seen Likely to Approve New Mobility Fund on 3-0 Vote, Probably With Quibbles
An FCC order on phase two of a Mobility Fund (MFII) appears headed to a 3-0 vote at next week’s commissioner meeting, industry and agency officials said Wednesday. Smaller carriers have been active at the FCC, raising objections to parts of rules in the draft order circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai is seeking a vote on the relatively complicated order as part of an ambitious agenda at only his second meeting as chairman (see 1702030039).
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All three commissioners are likely yes votes, but they probably will note concerns they have with the challenge process, transition timing and the auction process, in their accompanying statements, a small-carrier lawyer predicted. The FCC likely will address the challenge and auction processes in follow-up public notices, to avoid administrative procedure or due process questions, the lawyer said. An FCC spokesman didn't comment.
The Rural Wireless Association released a statement Wednesday citing its objections to the draft order. One big concern is that the proposed area eligibility coverage standard is 5 Mbps for downloads/1 Mbps for uploads, rather than 10/1. That standard “will render a large portion of rural America completely ineligible for MFII funding,” RWA said. “Supported rural wireless carriers providing service at faster speeds will have their funding flash cut -- and may have to turn down service. Rural consumers will have no choice but to accept lesser service, with no competition to prompt network improvements over time.”
The draft order’s proposed flash cuts and “inadequate” transition period are “unacceptable,” RWA said. “These measures will eliminate competition, harm economic development, and endanger public safety -- as they are wholly inadequate to protect the needs of rural consumers and those traveling to rural areas. Rural America should not be forced to bear the service disruptions that would result from an unwarranted flash cut or to suffer as a consequence of loss of service.” RWA also laid out its objections in a series of meetings at the FCC, said a filing in docket 10-208.
The Competitive Carriers Association raised similar concerns (see 1702140059). A letter by the CEOs of 18 CCA member companies advised against flash cuts for other USF support once MFII is launched. “We understand the Commission intends, using unreliable coverage data, to immediately slash legacy support in many areas that desperately need it,” the letter said. “The Commission’s plan fails a fundamental test of sound fiscal stewardship by undermining the connectivity gains achieved by existing policy.”
The FCC also has before it an AT&T, Atlantic Tele-Network and Blue Wireless jointly proposed framework for a new mobility fund (see 1701310042). U.S. Cellular objected to parts of that proposal, as supplemented in a filing last week. The joint proposal offers “detailed drive testing and application testing protocols that will be extraordinarily difficult for carriers to meet within the proposed 60-day window for a challenge process,” U.S. Cellular said. The carrier said it did third-party drive testing last year, which “revealed significant unserved areas in rural South Carolina where some carriers alleged to be covering with 4G LTE service. The AT&T/ATNI/Buffalo-Lake Erie proposal would require U.S. Cellular and other much smaller carriers to drive test or app-test tens of thousands of census blocks using the protocol proposed therein, a task estimated to be in the thousands of hours. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for small competitors to rebut coverage claims for multiple carriers that is overstated in rural areas.”
NTCA told the FCC the Form 477 data the agency plans to use to determine whether areas are already served with USF support isn't reliable. “There is a clear need to move beyond -- or at the very least supplement and refine -- Form 477 data as the determinative factor to identify unsubsidized competition,” NTCA said in a filing. “This can be achieved through a robust but efficient challenge process to ensure that rural consumers are not harmed, while also ensuring that the reforms can be implemented in a timely manner.”
CTIA reported on a meeting with Amy Bender, an aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, offering its advice on an order. The association stressed “the importance of the Commission implementing a permanent and robust Mobility Fund Phase II that will enable mobile wireless providers to serve rural and high-cost areas where consumers lack access to critical mobile wireless broadband services,” said a filing.
Then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a similar mobility fund last year. A Wheeler order was scheduled for commissioners’ November meeting but was pulled from the agenda after Republican Donald Trump won the White House (see 1611170054).