Chairman Pai's Response to Reps Pallone, Walden, Doyle, and Latta Regarding Mobility Fund Phase II

On Dec 19, 2019, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to raise concerns about the unreliable data collected for the Mobility Fund Phase II (MF II) coverage maps, and therefore concerns about the announcement that MF II will be replaced with a new 5G Fund. The wrote, "[T]he design and execution of any new fund must be carefully constructed to succeed where MF II failed." The lawmakers asked for additional information on the 5G fund, including information about ensuring areas eligible for support are based on reliable coverage data, performance benchmarks, and ensuring new services are sufficiently secure. 

On Jan 24, 2020, Chairman Pai responded by announcing his intent to focus on 5G instead of 4G. "When the significant problems with the data in the Mobility Fund II proceeding came to light, it became clear to me that the FCC’s focus going forward should be on deploying next-generation technologies so that Americans in rural areas are on the same footing as those living in cities....And in my view, it doesn’t make sense for a multi-year support program to concentrate on funding a technology that is likely to be outpaced by 5G before the end of the program....I believe that focusing a 10-year high-cost support program on the deployment of 4G LTE would be akin to focusing our Rural Digital Opportunity fund on the deployment of 10/1 Mbps fixed broadband." He continued, "In your letter, you raise four important questions. Each of those issues, along with many other details of the 5G Fund, will need to be determined by the full Commission through a notice-and-comment rulemaking process. I intend to circulate a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the coming months for the FCC’s consideration, and I can assure you that each of the topics that you ask about will be discussed in that document. The FCC will then make decisions based on the record we compile."