5G Fund for Rural America

The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council -- joined by more than two dozen national organizations -- says the Federal Communications Commission should make sure that the initial tranche of its $9 billion in rural 5G subsidy funding goes to help those furthest from digital equality, which includes impoverished African American and Hispanic communities. The groups say that the FCC should prioritize funding according to poverty, not population density.

All five Federal Communications Commissioners testified at a Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing. Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said the hearing was an opportunity for Commissioners to discuss what more can be done to expand broadband access and digital opportunity for all Americans.

On April 23, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to adopt rules and a framework for establishing the 5G Fund for Rural America. To account for the relative costs of serving areas that vary in terrain characteristics and potential business cases, the FCC proposed to apply an adjustment factor to make the most difficult areas to serve more attractive at auction in order to encourage more bidding for these areas. The adjustment factor also would be used to transition legacy high-cost support to 5G Fund support.

As the Senate returns, Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) says he’s ready to dive in on broadband discussions, an especially prime topic as Congress mulls its next phase of coronavirus relief. Chairman Wicker specifically invoked interest in reviewing Federal Communications Commission plans to dole out billions of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund dollars this fall. Chairman Wicker said that the auction would bring broadband to rural America. “We’re going to try to speed that up. It’s scheduled for October of this year.

On March 9, 2020,  Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Todd Young (R-IN) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern as to having reliable underlying coverage data used to determine funding eligibility for a 5G fund for rural America. They urged the FCC to focus on ensuring that accurate data is available — including updates to the collection of coverage data as outline in the Broadband DATA Act. 

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on the 5G Fund for Rural America. The auction process would be two-phase – and where the controversy comes in relates to which areas would be included in the first phase and when that auction would occur.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on establishing the 5G Fund for Rural America. The Notice proposes to distribute up to $9 billion through the Universal Service Fund across rural America for 5G wireless broadband connectivity. The 5G Fund would help ensure that rural Americans enjoy the same benefits from our increasingly digital economy as their urban counterparts—more than 200 million of whom already have access to major providers’ 5G networks—and would include a special focus on deployments that support precision agriculture.