FCC Releases Mobile Challenge Rules

Economics and Analytics and Office of Engineering and Technology. Small carriers and others sought changes to proposed rules in comments last fall (see 2109290045). The order adopts the “parameters and metrics … that must be collected both for on-the-ground test data to support challenge submissions, rebuttals to cognizable challenges, and responses to verification requests, and for infrastructure information to support challenge rebuttals and responses to verification requests.” Among the policy cuts, the FCC clarifies that “minimum and maximum test length parameters will apply individually to download speed, upload speed, and round-trip latency measurements, and will not include ramp up time.” The agency said it disagreed with arguments by Competitive Carriers Association, Public Knowledge/New America and others that “imposing a maximum test limit places an arbitrary or inferior limitation on testing.” The requirements “balance representative measurement over a stable Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection, on the one hand, versus data usage considerations, on the other hand -- especially for consumers who may have limited data plans,” the agency said. The FCC said it understands “concerns about excessive data and burdens on consumers and governments and other third-party challengers to assure that their data aligns to these standards.” But the agency said “such parameters and metrics are necessary to provide the Commission with complete and reliable challenge data that accurately reflect on-the-ground conditions in the challenged area and provide the additional context necessary to efficiently and fully adjudicate challenges and thereby assure that more accurate and reliable coverage maps are made available.” The order said the FCC’s speed test app is “a reliable and efficient method for entities to use in submitting crowdsourced mobile coverage data to the Commission.” On the issue of hexagonal cell sizes for testing, “CTIA, T-Mobile, and AT&T urged the use of smaller resolution 10 hexagons instead of resolution 8, contending that hexagons at resolution 10 better match the 100-meter resolution providers must use when submitting their coverage map,” the order says: The Rural Wireless Association and Vermont regulators “recommend allowing challenges to resolution 6 and 7 hexagons in rural areas, which RWA notes are often difficult to test because of a lack of accessible roads.” The FCC found middle ground, saying resolution 8 “strikes an appropriate balance as the smallest resolution for a cognizable challenge.” The order notes some wanted more clarity on how the FCC will use crowdsourced data. The commission will evaluate data first through an automated process “to identify potential areas that warrant further review and evaluation by Commission staff,” the order said: Problems areas “would be subject to further review and evaluation by Commission staff of available evidence, such as speed test data, infrastructure data, crowdsourced and other third-party data.”