Public Notice

The Federal Communications Commission Wireless announced that a second group of 2.5 GHz band spectrum license applications received as part of the Rural Tribal Priority Window have passed initial review and are accepted for filing. The Tribal applicants that filed these 57 applications are now one step closer to obtaining access to this prime mid-band spectrum to help address the connectivity needs of their rural communities.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the Connected Care Pilot Program application window will open on Nov 6 and will remain open for 30 days through Dec 7, 2020. The Public Notice also provides additional guidance concerning the application submission process, prerequisites for the submission of an application, and provides examples of services eligible for support. The Pilot Program will provide up to $100 million from the Universal Service Fund over a three-year period to support the provision of connected care services.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that T-Mobile will pay a $200 million penalty to the US Treasury to resolve an investigation of its subsidiary Sprint’s compliance with the FCC’s rules regarding waste, fraud, and abuse in the Lifeline program for low-income consumers. The payment is the largest fixed-amount settlement the FCC has ever secured to resolve an investigation.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that funding through Stage 2 of the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund will result in all locations in Puerto Rico having access to fixed broadband service with speeds of at least 100 Mbps. And nearly one-third of those locations will have access to fixed broadband service with speeds of at least 1 Gbps.

The Federal Communications Commission has renewed the charter of the Consumer Advisory Committee for an additional two-year term beginning October 16, 2020. The CAC will continue to provide recommendations to the FCC on consumer topics, as specified by the Commission, gather data and information, and perform analyses that are necessary to respond to the questions or matters before it. Scott Marshall continues as Designated Federal Officer.

The Federal Communications Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Agency for International Development to promote secure and open 5G networks in the developing world. Under the agreement, the FCC and USAID will promote open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet and digital infrastructure and advance interagency coordination on network security in developing countries. The agreement affirms the following goals and objectives:

The Federal Communications Commission announced that 386 applicants are qualified to bid in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction. The FCC's Rural Broadband Auctions Task Force, Office of Economics and Analytics, and Wireline Competition Bureau identified the qualified applicants and provided educational materials for participating in the auction. The number of qualified bidders represents a more than 75% increase in the number of bidders in 2018’s successful Connect America Fund Phase II auction and also includes bidding consortia that contain multiple service providers.

The Federal Communications upcoming new address is:

45 L Street NE

Washington, DC 20554

The Federal Communications Commission announced the final list of areas that will be eligible for bidding in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction, which will target up to $16 billion to census blocks with no fixed broadband service meeting the Commission’s minimum standards. In total, about 5.3 million unserved homes and businesses are located in areas eligible for bidding in the Phase I auction, which will begin on October 29. The auction will prioritize bids for the deployment of broadband networks providing higher speeds up to 1 Gbps and lower latency.

Phase I of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (Auction 904) is scheduled to commence on October 29, 2020. The Federal Communications Commission laid out its approach for determining the census blocks eligible for Phase I support and established a limited challenge process for parties to identify, in part, areas that had been awarded funding by a federal or state broadband subsidy to offer broadband service at 25/3 Mbps or better and for which funding has already been paid or a formal commitment has been executed.