US. FCC Launches $9 Billion Rural 5G Construction Fund

Abstract: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that plans to launch a $ 9 billion 5G fund for rural areas in the United States, which aims to initiate the development of advanced mobile wireless technologies nationwide in the United States.

The fund will replace the planned Mobility Fund Phase II, which would provide federal support for 4G LTE services in non-service areas.

The news was released at the same time as a report on Mobility II. In the report, service providers must submit 4G LTE coverage data to help determine targets-the FCC has stated that the data is not reliable enough to drive Mobility II.

Specifically, after complaints from some parties, staff members began to worry that the data submitted by Verizon, US Cellular, and T-Mobile exaggerated their coverage, therefore could not accurately reflect the actual coverage. The FCC said that inaccurate data does not help the agency focus federal support where it is needed.

The American Mobility Fund was established in 2011 with the purpose of maintaining and expanding mobile broadband and voice services to underserved or under-quality services areas. The first phase of the mobile fund invested $ 350 million in a one-off subsidy. In order to completely fill the national 4G LTE service coverage loophole, the FCC is expected to launch the second phase of the 10-year mobile fund plan starting from 2017. The plan will be implemented by auction, with an annual subsidy of about $ 453 million. The bidders are required to deploy and maintain 4G LTE networks in uneconomic areas and expand services to areas without government subsidies.