A bipartisan vote has led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt new rules for funding the deployment of advanced, 5G mobile wireless broadband services in rural areas. This development has reignited the 5G Fund for Rural America, the FCC said today. The fund is targeted to the millions of homes and businesses that don’t have mobile 5G coverage.
The FCC has been planning the 5G Fund for several years. The program’s launch was delayed because the Commission wanted to have accurate data about unserved areas, which led to the inception of the FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program in 2022. The BDC has since produced more specific information about where fixed and mobile broadband is and isn’t available.
“With the progress we’ve made in mapping broadband service availability, there is no reason to wait to put the 5G Fund to work connecting households and businesses in rural communities across the country,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the FCC’s announcement. “We are ready to use every tool available to make sure that those who live, work, and travel in rural America have access to advanced, 5G mobile wireless broadband services.”
The FCC described how Phase I will work. A multi-round reverse auction — the start of which will be announced through a public notice — will distribute as much as $9 billion “to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the country unlikely to otherwise see unsubsidized deployment of 5G-capable networks,” the FCC said.
The auction will use mobile coverage data that has been gathered by the Broadband Data Collection program and from the FCC’s Mobile Speed Test app. That data is portrayed on the FCC’s National Broadband Map.
The 5G Fund now includes up to $900 million in incentives for incorporating Open Radio Access Network technology (Open RAN) in 5G Fund-supported networks. This was done to promote the deployment of Open RAN and its benefits for competition, national security, and supply chain reliability.
This Second Report and Order, adopted by a full vote of the FCC, raises the Phase I 5G Fund budget to $9 billion and proportionally increases the Tribal reserve budget. It also mandates that 5G Fund recipients execute cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans.
