FCC Approves 5G Fund FNPRM, With Simington Concurrence

The FCC approved a Further NPRM on launching a 5G Fund, as expected (see 2309200048). Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel noted that because of improved data the agency now knows that 14 million homes and businesses in the U.S. don’t have mobile 5G coverage today. Commissioner Nathan Simington concurred at the FCC's Thursday open meeting, complaining about how the FNPRM proposes to allocate funding.

Commissioners had approved a $9 billion 5G Fund in October 2020, under former Chairman Ajit Pai, with partial dissents by Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2010270034), but the launch of a fund stalled as the FCC developed broadband maps and gathered improved deployment data.

Simington criticized the FNPRM for “upending” a proposal from the 2020 notice that prioritized funding areas that don’t yet have 4G service before paying for upgrades from 4G to 5G. The draft “outright proposes that we treat areas with existing 4G services the same as areas with no service at all when it comes to qualifying for 5G subsidies,” he said. Simington said he sought to add questions about the “relative benefits of going from 4G to 5G” but said Rosenworcel’s office rejected that request.

“Especially in low-density rural areas and at high-coverage lower frequencies, 5G does not represent a transformational change for end-consumer mobile broadband service,” Simington said: “5G service in those areas operates on similar bounds, at similar speeds and with similar performance characteristics as 4G LTE.”

“For the first time in our history of supporting wireless networks through the universal service system, this agency has comprehensive data about where service is and is not all across the country,” Rosenworcel said. The agency now has “maps that are light years ahead of what we produced before,” she said: The FCC also “standardized the propagation data that carriers must submit to us twice a year and created new ways for consumers, governments, and others to help verify the data when the maps do not reflect service on the ground.”

Rosenworcel noted the world has changed since the FCC first announced a 5G Fund, “including a global pandemic that underscored the importance of access to high-speed mobile services.” With improved broadband data “we will be able to see gaps in coverage and ensure support actually reaches the communities that need it most,” she said.

Commissioner Brendan Carr said as he has traveled across the U.S. he has often looked at his phone only to find the message that “no service” is available. “That happened in parts of the country where if you looked at our old maps they would tell you that there was service, and that happened time and time again,” he said. “The work that we have to do at the FCC to make sure that every American has a fair shot at next-gen connectivity is a big one, it’s important, it’s ongoing,” he said.

Carr said he had hoped the FCC would be “further along in this process than we are” in creating a fund, but “I’m glad that we’re taking it up right now.” Carr complained that the FCC's pace in making spectrum available for 5G has slowed from his early years on the commission. “The FCC moved … with really unprecedented speed between 2017 and 2020,” he said. Carr urged the FCC to identify target bands and put out a spectrum calendar. “Congress can help as well by renewing our auction authority,” he said.

The Competitive Carriers Association looks forward to reviewing the item when it’s released, emailed President Tim Donovan: “The 5G Fund has been a top priority for CCA, and we will continue to work with the Commission and our members to ensure the final rules preserve and expand mobile broadband access to every American.” The Rural Wireless Association "looks forward to submitting comments in response to this Further Notice in order to highlight the issues vital to rural communities and the rural carriers committed to serving them," said a news release.

“Implementing the 5G Fund and using the FCC’s new maps will help extend the benefits of advanced 5G services to more communities and consumers,” CTIA CEO Meredith Baker said.