Trump Administration, FCC Officials Highlight Optimism About US' Future Rural Broadband Moves

Officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the FCC spoke optimistically about the U.S. path forward on rural broadband and spectrum policy during a Monday NTCA event, citing 2018 successes and actions slated for this year. The FCC's plans to follow up the USF Connect America Fund with a new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904120065) received some attention at the event, but more focus was on upcoming spectrum auctions and ways to increase rural broadband deployments.

The FCC's Friday announcements about its plans for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the Dec. 10 start date for its auction of spectrum on the 37, 39 and 47 GHz bands are just the latest evidence of the Trump administration's “strong commitment” to closing the digital divide, said White House Office of Science and Technology Senior Policy Counsel Kelsey Guyselman at the NTCA event. She also cited a range of other recent Trump administration actions, including the president's order last year for a comprehensive national spectrum strategy and the February release of its American Broadband Initiative milestones report (see 1810250018 and 1902130067).

Jamie Susskind, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, was among those who said Monday they are pleased by the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund proposal but also want to see more details. It's exciting “any time you can take steps to close the digital divide” in the way the proposed funding program would, she said. Carr's office will be “glad to hear more of the details” and see what “unfolds.” NTCA Senior Director-Government Affairs Scott Lively later said it “remains to be seen” what direction the coming program will take, but regardless it will be a “great opportunity” for rural ISPs to examine unserved areas near their current broadband coverage footprint that they could expand into using the coming funding.

FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly emphasized he will continue to fight against using USF funds to overbuild broadband in currently served areas. “Every dollar wasted to overbuild existing provider networks comes at the expense of those Americans without broadband service,” O'Rielly said. “There have been few willing to take on this overall issue because it can generate significant opposition. Just talking about restricting” funding to the USF E-rate and Rural Health Care programs or to Department of Agriculture “funding provokes outrage by particular interest groups. Many of these entities don’t want any restrictions imposed on their ability to get federal funds, no matter the purposes.”

O'Rielly also warned against using the $600 million currently allocated to USDA's rural e-connectivity loan and grant pilot ReConnect program to overbuild existing networks. “There is general agreement that the USDA must coordinate with the FCC to keep this from happening,” he said. “However, coordination doesn’t mean a ban on overbuilding. It can mean as little as having a conversation between government agencies.” USDA Rural Utilities Service acting Administrator Chad Rupe said he hopes the ReConnect program will “help rectify” the digital divide” because rural e-connectivity “is a necessity.” RUS plans to continue to hold workshops to aid potential applicants, including several in four states over the next month, he said.

Carr, Guyselman and others noted ongoing concerns about the accuracy of broadband coverage maps and connectivity data collection practices. “We’ve certainly heard … loud and clear” that the existing maps, such as the FCC's maligned Mobility Fund Phase II data set, “aren’t good enough,” Carr said. Significant improvements are needed because “the maps are going to help drive billions in federal investment over 10 years or more.” The FCC “can do better” on mapping, Susskind said later. There likely will always need to be some sort of data validation process “to ensure that data is accurate,” said Preston Wise, acting special counsel to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

There's a “strong desire” on Capitol Hill for better mapping practices, as evidenced by the issue having been factored into every recent congressional hearing on broadband, Lively said during a briefing for association members ahead of planned meetings on Capitol Hill that begin Tuesday. The mapping issue is just part of what's clearly a “heightened interest in rural broadband” in Congress and other parts of the federal government, he said. NTCA is emphasizing the need for “uniform standards” for coverage data collection and the need for a “robust” process for challenging published data.

NTCA members also will highlight a range of other issues, including broadband performance testing by Connect America Fund recipients and the need for discussions on net neutrality legislation to not harm the FCC's ability to ensure USF's sustainability. NTCA Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano noted that the debate over the House-passed Save the Internet Act net neutrality bill (HR-1644) in part looked at the possibility that making permanent the FCC's forbearances from parts of Communications Act Title II in enforcing its 2015 net neutrality rules could preclude the commission from future revamps to the USF contribution rules (see 1903260064).