Federal Communications Commission

I want to share with you a few of the reforms the [5G Upgrade Order] makes:

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr announced that the FCC will vote on his 5G Upgrade Order at its next open meeting June 9. Commissioner Carr’s order continues the multi-year effort by Congress and the FCC to eliminate needless delays of tower upgrades. In 2012, Congress required local governments to approve modifications to wireless infrastructure that do not substantially change the size of the towers or base stations.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the June Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2020:

The FCC's June 2020 meeting agenda includes the following:

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr announced that the FCC will vote on his plan to promote the build out of Broadcast Internet services. These are a range of innovative offerings that can be delivered over the same, powerful broadcast television spectrum that blankets US communities today. These Broadcast Internet services are enabled by a new broadcast transmission standard known as ATSC 3.0 and delivered over an efficient one-to-many architecture. The FCC will vote on the item—a Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking—at its June Open Meeting.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared draft procedures for the upcoming $16 billion Phase I Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction (Auction 904). With financial support from the auction, service providers will expand broadband service to millions of unserved homes and businesses in rural areas. At the FCC’s June 9 open meeting, the FCC will vote on finalizing these draft procedures. Auction 904 is the first phase of the FCC’s $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund initiative, which is modeled on the FCC’s successful Connect America Fund Phase II auction in 2018.

An FCC auction of the T-band is a bad idea. But as of today, the law mandates that we do it. It’s unfortunate that Commission resources must be dedicated to laying the groundwork for an auction that will likely fail. This is especially true at a time when we are making every effort to keep Americans safe and connected, including allowing expanded temporary use of this very spectrum to help first responders save lives.

The Federal Communications Commission authorized over $7.5 million in funding over ten years to expand rural broadband in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, and Oklahoma. These investments will connect over 3,100 unserved rural homes and businesses. Providers will begin receiving the funds later in May. The funding represents the 12th wave of support from the successful 2018 Connect America Fund Phase II auction. Providers must build out to 40% of the assigned homes and businesses in the areas won in a state within three years.