FCC to Consider 'Distinct Challenges' of Rural Deployments in 5G Fund Rules, Pai Tells Senators
The FCC will “consider the distinct challenges of deploying 5G in rural areas when proposing performance requirements” for its new 5G Fund, Chairman Ajit Pai wrote Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., and four other senators in…
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letters released Monday. Kennedy and the others -- Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Jim Lankford, R-Okla.; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; and Jon Tester, D-Mont. -- told Pai in January they had “serious reservations” about the proposed fund, citing ongoing concerns about the accuracy of broadband coverage data the FCC collects. The issue later came up during a January Senate Commerce Committee hearing (see 2001160053). “You can be assured that I will propose including an adjustment factor in the 5G Fund to address the increased costs of deploying 5G services in more rugged areas,” Pai told the senators. He said he understands their concerns about spending USF funds on 5G while some areas still lack 4G LTE services, “but it does not make sense for a multi-year support program to fund a technology that will be outpaced by 5G before the end of the program. That would be like focusing our Rural Digital Opportunity Fund on the deployment of 4/1 Mbps fixed broadband over the next decade.” Pai also noted their broadband mapping concerns and said the new Digital Opportunity Data Collection will result in the FCC “collecting mobile data subject to specific parameters and provide an opportunity for feedback from stakeholders. And I expect the Commission will seek comment on how to incorporate the coverage data available into the 5G Fund.”