RWA Concerned About Mobility Fund II Draft
The Rural Wireless Association, which pushed hard for a rethink of Mobility Fund II challenge rules (see 1702150035), said Friday it's disappointed with the draft circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Thursday. “Pai may have proclaimed August to be ‘Rural…
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Broadband Month,’” said RWA General Counsel Carri Bennet, but the draft “doesn’t live up to the hype.” RWA sought changes to proposed challenge rules and the FCC agreed (see 1702230042). The Thursday draft addresses the challenge process. But “RWA remains concerned with the lack of a 1 Mbps upload threshold to determine MFII support-eligible areas,” the group said in a news release. “Upload speeds are crucial to the end user’s experience -- particularly real-time data exchanges like distance learning and telemedicine applications needed to ensure those living in rural America are not left behind.” The FCC also fails to address CDMA/GSM incompatibility “and potential loss of voice fallback will leave mobile consumers traveling in rural America without the voice service that they have previously enjoyed,” RWA said. “This lack of action and potential loss of service unnecessarily endangers public safety.” RWA also raised concerns on the proposed challenge process. The draft challenge proposal “places onerous burdens on small rural carriers,” it said. “A significant ‘proof of lack of coverage’ data submission requirement within a too-short 60-day challenge window and restrictions on challenger eligibility would limit the ability of interested parties to submit valid challenges for the sake of expediency and skew the marketplace.” CTIA didn't comment. “While we continue to review the order, we are pleased [Chairman Ajit Pai] seems open to standardizing the data collection process to ensure reliable data is used when determining areas eligible for support," said Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association.