Gomez: Loss of ACP Could Make BEAD Program Less Effective

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez and carrier executives warned of challenges from the pending expiration of the affordable connectivity program and negative implications for the broadband access, equity and deployment program, speaking Wednesday at a Competitive Carriers Association conference streamed from Palm Springs, California. Gomez said she supports the proposed 5G Fund, circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last month (see 2403260052), and is focused on concerns raised by CCA and others.

ACP connects one in six U.S. households and is “our nation’s largest broadband affordability program and the most successful tool we’ve ever had to close the digital divide,” Gomez said. If ACP goes away, BEAD dollars will reach fewer unserved and underserved communities, she said. “This is a concern that we are hearing,” she said.

“We want to make sure that BEAD deployments are successful and if you lose your subscribership, your sustainability is going to be an issue,” Gomez said. The number of subscribers who can afford to pay for broadband in a market is part of a provider’s “calculus” of the economic feasibility of providing service, she said. “Subscribership concerns could result in less rural areas being served,” she said.

CCA and others have been especially vocal on the need to time the auction to come after BEAD awards are made (see 2404090013). A number of steps must take place before the start of the Phase I auction for the fund, Gomez said. “I am cognizant of the concerns that have been raised about the timing of the auction, BEAD awards to provide information about where fiber will be deployed” and concerns about challenges to the FCC’s broadband maps, she said.

“The cost of building and maintaining quality networks is a perennial issue for all carriers, but when you serve rural communities with a small customer base, this becomes the most important issue,” Gomez said. The 5G Fund must “go as far as possible to expand the reach of 5G,” she said.

“We need to have every tool available to provide connectivity to all Americans” and funding programs must be based on reliable and accurate maps, said CCA President Tim Donovan. Funding programs also need to “work together, not oppose each other,” he said. The 5G Fund must be synced to other programs including BEAD, he said. “It is vital that we avoid a 5G gap,” he said.

The yearlong lapse of FCC auction authority “creates challenges for the wireless industry and frustrates America’s goal to remain the global wireless leader” and is “a top issue” for CCA members, Donovan said.

Donovan acknowledged that many members of Congress are focused on fully funding the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2404100067). “With each passing day more damage is done,” he said. “This is a bipartisan national security mandate and one that must be addressed immediately.”

Carrier Panel

Carrier executives on a panel stressed the importance of funding ACP.

About 60% of the customers served by Choice NTUA Wireless receive ACP funding, said General Manager Velena Tsosie. The provider serves the Navajo Nation. “Given the demographics that we live in -- a high poverty rate -- many of our customers took advantage of that program,” she said. NTUA has been looking at alternatives and created a “stay connected” program. NTUA doesn’t want customers to lose service, she said.

ACP is “significant to our business given where we come from and the challenges that we face,” Tsosie said.

Texas-based Totelcom Communications serves a low-income, sparsely populated market, said CEO Jennifer Prather. Providing broadband is already difficult in that market, with a limited customer base, she said. More than 50% of Totelcom customers are eligible for ACP, though far fewer have applied, she said. Determining eligibility is difficult for a small carrier, she said.

Totelcom is also looking at alternatives, but there aren’t many options for sustainable funding, Prather said. “Any funding mechanism that’s out there, we’re willing to talk about all of it,” she said: “We would prefer if Congress would act [on ACP] and make it all work out.”

Texas still doesn’t have a final BEAD plan, but grants will come with a lot of requirements, Prather said. Broadband and connectivity is a good business to be in “so when we’re talking about the places that are unserved or underserved today, there’s a reason” and usually that’s because “it’s hard to make money there,” she said. “There’s going to be a money grab,” she said. “My fear is we’re going to see some networks promised” that won’t lead to more deployment, she said.

Loss of ACP isn’t as big of deal for Appalachian Wireless as it is for some carriers, said Jamie Thacker, technical operations director. “No matter if it’s one customer or 100,000, those folks came to rely” on the program, he said. Appalachian is taking a look at BEAD, he said. While the program is unprecedented, “there’s not nearly enough money” to build broadband everywhere, he said.

One of the biggest challenges for NTUA is siting towers and other new wireless facilities, Tsosie said. The company can get environmental and other approvals completed within six months, but the approval process by the Navajo Nation often takes 16 months to five years, she said. “That’s the biggest challenge that we face today,” she said.

Thacker said Appalachian is building a 5G stand-alone network working with Ericsson. One of the company’s initial concerns was the availability of handsets, but that doesn’t appear to be a problem, he said. Appalachian decided against using open radio access network technology and will use an Ericsson core. “As a small carrier we have limited engineering resources” and weren’t ready to take on the challenges of working with multiple vendors, he said. “It’s just a lot,” he said.