AT&T, ATN, Blue Wireless Propose Mobility Fund Plan
AT&T, Atlantic Tele-Network and Blue Wireless jointly proposed a framework for a new mobility fund, in an FCC filing. The FCC should target areas without LTE “to ensure that subsidies are not provided in areas where private investment is doing…
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the job,” the carriers said. It should establish “objective, technologically neutral performance standards that will ensure that rural Americans get service comparable to that available in urban areas,” the filing said. “The proposal relies on lessons from the Commission’s implementation of CAF [Connect America Fund] programs.” The carriers said the fund should be the right size to address problems and the FCC should ensure that auction winners “know all of their obligations in advance of auction and are accountable for compliance.” The companies urge the FCC to move quickly. “This proposal represents the views of a large provider, a mid-sized provider, and a small provider with a common interest in ensuring high-quality mobile service in rural America,” said the filing in docket 10-90. “It is possible to establish a workable framework for Mobility Fund Phase II in the near term and perfect the coverage data to proceed with an auction without further delay.” The plan attempts to put a price tag on a fund. The carriers suggest 10 percent of eligible square miles could be covered at a cost as low as $39 million per year for a 10-year program, and covering 100 percent would cost as much as $1.86 billion per year. Then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a new mobility fund last year. A Wheeler order was scheduled for commissioners’ November meeting but was pulled from the agenda after Republicans won the White House (see 1611170054).