FCC Commissioner O’Rielly: In the Unlikely Event there is a CAF Mobility Fund…

If the Federal Communications Commission were to create a mobility fund as it converts today’s voice-focused high-cost Universal Service program into a broadband-focused Connect America Fund program, that fund most likely would not look like “anything previously envisioned,” said FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly.

Commissioner O’Rielly made his remarks at the Competitive Carrier Association 2015 Annual Convention. The remarks build on comments that Commissioner O’Rielly made in September that strongly suggested there might be no mobility fund in the ongoing CAF program. Commissioner O’Rielly noted the CAF program is not allowed to provide support for high-cost areas that are overlapped by an unsubsidized competitor. And “[w]ith nearly all of the nation covered by large wireless providers, the areas eligible for a mobility fund [if there were to be one] would be considerably fewer than just a few years back.” While acknowledging that large carriers may not serve every location in an area, O’Rielly said “that is viewed as a factual matter to be resolved through a challenge process.” Commissioner O’Rielly also noted that he understood the argument that “without ongoing support, service in areas that are currently covered could diminish.” He added, though, that “most of the expense is in the installation of the towers and the initiation of service, rather than the ongoing maintenance of them.” Accordingly, he said, “I still expect that the commission’s focus will remain on targeting support to those areas that are truly unserved.”