The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will set up a 5G network FCC fund to provide operators with up to $9 bln․ The latter will be created in advanced 5G network services in rural areas of the United States.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said the new fund will be distributed through a reverse auction. But with the goal of providing network coverage in sparsely populated hard to reach or rugged terrain. At the same time, the FCC will provide at least $1 bln from the fund for the deployment of precision agriculture needs.
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Earlier, the FCC conducted a year-long investigation. The latter found that the 4G network coverage data submitted by the operator were unreliable. Therefore they could not promote the construction of the Mobility Fund II.
Specifically, FCC staff conducted thousands of speed tests to network performance․ As a result. they concluded that the Mobility Fund II coverage map submitted by some operators may exaggerate their actual coverage. They are in many cases did not reflect the actual situation.
So FCC canceled the previous $4.5 bln rural 4G LTE subsidy fund and set up a 5G fund instead.
The FCC Director added that ‘subsidy funds are designed to ensure that American rural areas do not fall behind from 5G network.’
‘We must ensure that 5G narrows, not widens the digital world, and allows rural Americans to enjoy the benefits of wireless network innovation,’ Ajit Pai said.