On Dec 9, 48 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to say that, as the FCC considers new rules in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it should emphasize the importance of sustainable networks that meet the needs of consumers now and in the future. On Dec 13, 54 reps also wrote to Chairman Pai, who agreed with the senators that any networks built through the universal service fund (USF) should be required to be capable of delivering speeds, latency, and usage capacity "according to what the FCC deems necessary to meet the needs of consumers over the next decade." Further, the Members of Congress said that in order to not waste USF resources, it is critical that any use of an auction to distribute USF support should include meaningful processes upfront to prequalify bidders. 

On Jan 21, 2020, Chairman Pai responded by explaining the final rules the FCC would vote on Jan 30 to establish the RDOF. He agreed with the lawmakers on the importance of funding sustainable networks. "[T]he draft rules that I have presented to my colleagues would make three key departures from the [Connect America Fund] Phase II auction so that the RDOF supports networks that will stand the test of time. First, it would more than double the minimum speeds that bidders must commit to provide. Second, it would modify the weights that apply to bids to favor faster, lower latency networks. And third, as soon as the total price of all bids in the auction falls below the auction’s budget, support would be awarded to the bidder with the highest-performing network in each area. In other words, the auction would support the best network possible in each area given the available budget."

Regarding prequalifying bidders, Chairman Pai wrote, "under the draft rules the FCC would thoroughly vet the technical and financial capabilities of applicants before allowing them to participate in the RDOF auction. And once winning bidders start deploying their networks, they would be subject to the same rigorous performance testing procedures that the FCC adopted in Oct for all carriers receiving support through the CAF. These requirements would ensure that carriers remain accountable to consumers, taxpayers, and the FCC."

On Dec 19, 2019, House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR), and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to raise concerns about the unreliable data collected for the Mobility Fund Phase II (MF II) coverage maps, and therefore concerns about the announcement that MF II will be replaced with a new 5G Fund. The wrote, "[T]he design and execution of any new fund must be carefully constructed to succeed where MF II failed." The lawmakers asked for additional information on the 5G fund, including information about ensuring areas eligible for support are based on reliable coverage data, performance benchmarks, and ensuring new services are sufficiently secure. 

On Jan 24, 2020, Chairman Pai responded by announcing his intent to focus on 5G instead of 4G. "When the significant problems with the data in the Mobility Fund II proceeding came to light, it became clear to me that the FCC’s focus going forward should be on deploying next-generation technologies so that Americans in rural areas are on the same footing as those living in cities....And in my view, it doesn’t make sense for a multi-year support program to concentrate on funding a technology that is likely to be outpaced by 5G before the end of the program....I believe that focusing a 10-year high-cost support program on the deployment of 4G LTE would be akin to focusing our Rural Digital Opportunity fund on the deployment of 10/1 Mbps fixed broadband." He continued, "In your letter, you raise four important questions. Each of those issues, along with many other details of the 5G Fund, will need to be determined by the full Commission through a notice-and-comment rulemaking process. I intend to circulate a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the coming months for the FCC’s consideration, and I can assure you that each of the topics that you ask about will be discussed in that document. The FCC will then make decisions based on the record we compile."

Sixty-one percent of the US population had low-priced wired broadband available to them in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to new broadband affordability research from BroadbandNow. Researchers defined low-priced service to include offerings priced at $60 or less. This was a substantial increase from the third quarter of 2019, when 52% of the US population had low-priced service available. They cautioned, however, that increased availability of low-priced broadband may be temporary because it may have been related to holiday shopping season deals. In fourth quarter, there were 16 states where at least 70% of the population had access to a low-cost plan, including three states where more than 80% of the population could get a low-cost plan. At the other end of the spectrum, there were five states in which no more than 9% of the population had access to a low-cost plan

 The percentage of Americans that had non-satellite fixed service at speeds at or above 25/3 Mbps increased slightly between the third and fourth quarter of 2019 – from 94.5% to 94.8%. The percentage of Americans that had non-satellite fixed service at speeds at or above 25/3 Mbps increased slightly between the third and fourth quarter of 2019 – from 94.5% to 94.8%.

For more than a year, the [Federal Communications Commission] was silent after news reports alerted us that for just a few hundred dollars, shady middlemen could sell your location within a few hundred meters based on your wireless phone data. It’s chilling to consider what a black market could do with this data. It puts the safety and privacy of every American with a wireless phone at risk. Today this agency finally announced that this was a violation of the law. Millions and millions of Americans use a wireless device every day and didn’t sign up for or consent to this surveillance. It’s a shame that it took so long for the FCC to reach a conclusion that was so obvious.