Vote on Proposed 5G Fund Seen Most Likely at March FCC Meeting
Chairman Ajit Pai is likely to seek a vote on a proposal for a 10-year, $9 billion 5G Fund for Rural America at the March FCC meeting, industry officials said. The agency opened docket 20-32 on the fund Monday. A vote is possible at the Feb. 28 meeting, but industry officials said the March 31 meeting is more likely. Pai is expected to release a blog Thursday on the February meeting.
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Lawyers active on USF issues said all indications are that Pai will seek a vote soon on the fund, but that an item likely won’t be ready for the February meeting. Carri Bennet, counsel to the Rural Wireless Association, expects a March item. CTIA is awaiting for details, a spokesperson said.
Competitive Carrier Association President Steve Berry said “the 5G fund presents a real opportunity to help achieve the commission’s goal of closing the digital divide. Every consumer in an unserved or underserved area stands to benefit greatly if the right measures are in place.” The FCC didn't comment.
The new fund replaces the long-delayed Mobility Fund II program, approved 3-0 by commissioners in 2017, after years of advocacy by smaller carriers (see 1912040027).
AT&T has the only filing in the docket, reporting on a meeting with various bureaus and offices, including the Wireline and Wireless bureaus, and the Office of Economic Analysis. Much of the MF-II auction framework “could be applied to the 5G Fund,” AT&T said, posted Wednesday. “Doing so would closely align aspects of the 5G Fund with other [Connect America Fund] programs and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, such as the term of support, deployment milestones, and compliance framework,” the carrier said: “Implementing square miles as the geographic area coverage metric requirement, as adopted for MFII, would best ensure carriers are striking the right balance between covering populations, road miles, and farm land.”
The new fund will likely be a “logical parallel” to RDOF and similar to the rural telemedicine pilot program the FCC launched last year, said Tom Struble, R Street Institute tech policy manager. Under Pai’s leadership, the FCC “has worked hard to improve upon the various USF programs that it administers, so this seems like a logical next step for them to take,” he said.