FCC proposes US$9bn 5G fund for rural communities

The US Federal Communication Commission’s April meeting will be presented with a plan to establish a “5G Fund for rural America”.

The proposal would use multi-round reverse auctions to distribute up to US$9 billion, in two phases, to bring 5G service to rural areas of the US.

“Phase I of the 5G Fund would target at least $8 billion of support over 10 years to rural areas of our country that would be unlikely to be covered by the commitments made by New T-Mobile as part of its acquisition of Sprint (including coverage of 90% of rural Americans with 5G service at 50 Mbps or greater over the next six years) and that we anticipate would not see timely deployment of 5G service absent universal service support,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/mansong