Mobility Fund Phase I Auction

The Federal Communications Commission announced steps to close our nation’s gaps in mobile service as part of the agency’s groundbreaking reforms under the Connect America Fund, which the FCC adopted last year to put America on the path to universal broadband and advanced mobile coverage by the end of the decade.

The Commission recently released a public notice announcing a reverse auction to award $300 million in one-time Mobility Fund Phase I support starting the implementation process. It also has developed and released a new interactive map to illustrate areas potentially eligible for support. As part of the Connect America Fund, the Commission created for the first time the Mobility Fund, a universal service support mechanism dedicated exclusively to mobile services. Phase I of the Mobility Fund will provide one-time support to accelerate our nation's ongoing efforts to close gaps in mobile wireless service. The Mobility Fund helps improve coverage in these areas for current-generation or better mobile voice and broadband services. In the Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline Competition Bureaus announce the first auction (Auction 901) to award high-cost universal service support through reverse competitive bidding and seek comment on identifying geographic areas eligible for support, determining the basic auction design, and establishing certain other bidding procedures. Auction 901 will award one-time support to carriers that commit to provide 3G or better mobile voice