Rural Carriers Want Reconsideration of 5G Fund

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2025 – Rural wireless carriers are asking federal regulators to hit pause on a $9 billion program to expand 5G coverage.

“There are several significant objectives that should be completed before conducting the 5G Fund auction, to avoid wasting or improperly targeting 5G Fund support in rural America,” a coalition of nine regional providers wrote in a Jan. 16 petition asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its rules for the fund.

The agency adopted final rules for the 5G Fund for Rural America in August 2024, but didn’t set up a definitive timeline. It’s set to be a reverse auction in which carriers bid to serve areas with the lowest level of government support.

The Rural Wireless Association, a trade group representing rural wireless carriers, also filed a similar petition. The companies have several objections, including the eligibility criteria the agency used to determine which locations could be funded. The FCC went with a model that assumed an outdoor stationary user to determine which areas lacked 5G coverage, but the carriers want an in-vehicle model, which would effectively make millions more locations eligible for funding.

The agency said in the order that the wider criteria would risk overbuilding, and the petitioners counter, as they did during the rulemaking process, that an in-vehicle model was more useful as consumers often use mobile connectivity on the road.

“Considering the mobility aspect is essential to ensure that rural consumers, and urban consumers traveling through rural areas, have access to 5G mobile services,” RWA wrote.

Both groups also want the FCC to hold off on an auction until awards under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program are finalized. The program is aimed at expanding home broadband across the country, which is going to involve laying fiber that 5G Fund participants could make use of. 

Three states’ awards have been finalized by the Commerce Department so far, with nearly half of all states beginning the process of fielding grant applications. Republicans have been critical of the program’s fiber prioritization, and whether or not the Trump administration changes rules in a way that would hold up future approvals is still up in the air.

In its 5G Fund order, the FCC said time was of the essence to avoid leaving rural areas behind, and that it would coordinate with the agency managing BEAD before moving ahead with the auction, but carriers evidently still had concerns.

The rural carriers likely have a sympathetic ear in newly appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, at least on the timing issue. He dissented from the order establishing the fund on the grounds that the agency should wait until BEAD projects were awarded before holding the auction, arguing carriers would then be able to take advantage of the fiber set to be deployed and would face a lower risk of being overbuilt. 

“Wireless carriers can stretch each 5G Fund dollar further—and rationally commit to offer mobile broadband service for less money—if they know where these BEAD funds are flowing, for what technology, and to what ISP,” he said in a statement at the time.