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 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.”
Puerto Rico has much to share about resiliency, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a recent interview after he returned from a field hearing (see 2002260041). "There has not been a network or a people that has been as tested," he said of the hits they took from Hurricane Maria in 2017 and from earthquakes more recently.
The Q2 USF contribution factor would drop to 19.6% under a proposal from the FCC's Office of Managing Director Friday in a public notice on docket 96-45. USF revenue is projected to be its lowest ever (see 2003020077)
Utah legislators passed a bill to increase prepaid wireless contributions. The House voted 70-0 Thursday after the Senate voted 27-0 Monday. SB-225 would require prepaid wireless to contribute 1.2% of sales for state USF. It modifies the existing rule that prepaid providers remit 60 cents monthly per access line to the Utah Public Service Commission. It would increase the prepaid wireless 911 surcharge to 3.7% from 3.3%. Rates would take effect Jan. 1.
As fears about the spreading coronavirus increase, stakeholders are upping requests (see 2003060036) for additional government actions on telehealth and remote patient monitoring. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Thursday Michigan plans to give Medicaid patients easier access to telehealth services during the pandemic. That will expand "opportunities for safe, quality care through telemedicine," she said.
FCC Inspector General nominee Chase Johnson faced questions Wednesday during a Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearing. Jon Tester, D-Mont., asked why the FCC has taken no action after a staff investigation of Mobility Fund-II coverage maps found the maps provided by carriers didn't match actual 4G LTE coverage (see 1912040027). During a markup, some bills were OK'd.
House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told us he’s eyeing attaching a rider to the subcommittee’s FY 2021 appropriations bill aimed at allocating proceeds from the FCC’s coming auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band. Quigley raised concerns about the FCC’s current C-band auction plan during a Wednesday House Appropriations Financial Services hearing on the commission’s FY 2021 budget request. The C-band plan drew criticism from Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., during that subpanel’s Tuesday FCC budget hearing (see 2003100022).
The Senate approved Tuesday the House-passed version of the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (S-1822) by unanimous consent. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and seven other committee Republicans are meanwhile calling for the FCC to distribute money from its proposed 5G Fund based on accurate broadband coverage data. The FCC has been considering what to ask in its coming NPRM to set up the new $9 billion USF program, which replaces Mobility Fund Phase II (see 2002130020). Senate passage of the House-altered S-1822 sends the measure on to President Donald Trump, who’s expected to sign it. The House last week amended S-1822 to included language from its House-passed companion (HR-4229), which was expanded into a larger broadband mapping legislative package (see 2003030064). S-1822 now also includes language from the House-passed Mapping Accuracy Promotes Services Act (HR-4227), which would bar companies from knowingly giving the FCC inaccurate broadband coverage data. “Flawed broadband maps are a huge problem for rural and underserved communities, including many in Mississippi,” Wicker said. “I expect the FCC and other federal agencies to use these new maps when awarding funding.” Unless "appropriately targeted," the 5G Fund "risks deepening the digital divide,” Wicker and the other senators wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a letter released Tuesday. The other GOP senators signing were: Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune of South Dakota; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Roy Blunt of Missouri; Deb Fischer of Nebraska; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Jerry Moran of Kansas; and Todd Young of Indiana. The senators noted they had repeatedly criticized MF-II. Wicker was on the verge of seeking an amendment to FY 2019 federal spending legislation that would force the FCC to revisit its MF-II maps before the FCC decided to investigate if top wireless carriers submitted incorrect coverage maps in violation of program rules (see 1812100056). “Although this program appears to focus on forward looking technologies that preserve and expand service in areas that otherwise may not be economical to serve, our concerns remain with regards to reliable underlying coverage data that is used to determine funding eligibility,” the senators said. The agency didn’t comment.
The FCC released drafts Tuesday of proposed items for the March 31 commissioners’ meeting, including details of proposals to deregulate voice incumbent pricing and require authentication of caller ID information, plus Media Bureau proposals on ATSC 3.0 and program carriage. Chairman Ajit Pai outlined the agenda Monday (see 2003090050).
USTelecom is seeking a single change to rules approved 5-0 in November barring equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE in networks funded by the USF (see 1911220033), it told aides to all the commissioners, except Jessica Rosenworcel. USTelecom’s petition is “very narrow” and seeks “reconsideration of a single footnote that expands the Commission’s information collection on use of covered equipment to all affiliates and subsidiaries of [eligible telecom carriers], regardless of whether the affiliate/subsidiary receives USF support,” said filings posted Monday (see here and here) in docket 18-89. Aides included Nick Degani, senior counsel to Chairman Ajit Pai.