FCC Chairman Wheeler's Response to Rep. Casey Regarding Mobile Telecom Services in Rural Areas

On January 13, 2014, Sen Robert Casey (D-PA) wrote Federal Communications Commission Tom Wheeler asking the FCC to investigate the coverage and reliability of the telecommunication system in rural areas after a driver had to make separate 911 calls as he crossed over the Maryland/ Pennsylvania border.

He wrote, “While I understand the FCC is aware of the concerns that rural communities face when dealing with dropped calls or poor quality services, I believe a renewed effort must be made to drastically improve these services. I also ask that your office take a particular look at how emergency services and responses are being affected by poor quality phone service. Phone services are vital to rural communities and we must ensure we are striving to expand new and updated technologies to all Americans regardless of where they live.”

On April 11, Chairman Wheeler wrote back saying the FCC has taken important steps to increase mobile coverage in rural areas. As of October 2012, 99.3 percent of the total rural US population and 92.6 percent of total rural US road miles had mobile voice service coverage from one or more providers.

To address areas with limited mobile coverage, the FCC established a universal service support mechanism dedicated exclusively to mobile services. Specifically, the Commission set aside $300 million in one-time support to accelerate immediate deployment of networks for mobile voice and broadband services in unserved, largely rural areas.

This support was made available through a nationwide reverse auction, which took place in the fall of 2012. There were 33 winning bidders, extending broadband coverage up to 83,494 road miles in geographic areas located in 31 states and one territory.