Rural Wireless Carriers Ask FCC to Verify Coverage Data Before 5G Fund

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2024 – Rural wireless carriers want the Federal Communications Commission to do its own testing of mobile coverage in rural parts of the country before green-lighting a $9 billion program aimed at expanding mobile wireless access.

The 5G Fund for Rural America has been in limbo since 2020, but the FCC took comment on some procedural updates last year and commissioners have been  reviewing a draft implementation order since March. The FCC’s plan is to conduct a reverse auction in which providers bid to provide 5G service with the lowest amount of subsidy support.

The Rural Wireless Association wrote to the FCC Monday that improved agency broadband maps still overstate the 5G coverage for major wireless providers, and the process for challenging mobile coverage data was more difficult than that for fixed broadband data. It’s one of several concerns the group and others have raised throughout the agency’s 5G fund proceeding and continue to flag.