5G Fund for Rural America

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.