Groups Defend 5G Fund Recon Petitions
All comments support CTIA’s petition for reconsideration of 5G Fund rules (see 2102090037), approved 3-2 in October (see 2010270034), and the FCC should make the changes sought, CTIA replied, posted Friday in docket 20-32. The Rural Wireless Association and NTCA…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
defended their petition seeking recon of excluding "areas from eligibility for support in the 5G Fund Phase I auction based upon where new mobile coverage data submitted in the Digital Opportunity Data Collection show the existence of either unsubsidized 4G LTE or unsubsidized 5G broadband service,” they said: “T-Mobile and AT&T fail to show why the Commission’s decision on eligibility should not be reconsidered.” The Coalition of Rural Wireless Carriers (CWRC) fired back against T-Mobile's objections to its petition. “The principal issue is whether the Commission’s decision in the 5G Fund Order disregards guardrails enacted by Congress and therefore must be reconsidered and revised,” it said. The FCC misreads Consolidated 2016 Appropriations Act Section 631, CRWC said: “The statute bars the Commission from using any funds to change rules governing high-cost support provided to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers in any manner that is inconsistent with paragraph (e)(5) or (e)(6) of Section 54.307 of the FCC’s rules, which provide that the phase-down of legacy support must be paused until the Commission has implemented Mobility Fund Phase II.”