FCC fund would give 3G and 4G to remote coverage

The FCC at its monthly meeting today proposed the creation of a mobility fund. The concept would create a single-instance fund between $100 million and $300 million to deploy 3G and ultimately 4G in rural areas or other regions where any modern cellular data has been unavailable. Under the model, the FCC could use an inverted auction, giving contracts to whoever bids the lowest and adding additional carriers until no more money is available for a given area.

Some of the funding would already be available from Sprint and Verizon contributions to the Universal Service Fund.

The funding would follow similar calls to expand landline access but would take on added significance due to its mobile nature. Where only those who live nearby benefit from landlines, mobile access benefits everyone who visits the area, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn explained.

"Most Americans anticipate that their mobile devices will work no matter where they are," she said. "With this fund, we have an opportunity to meet that expectation."

Despite over 90 percent of the US population getting 3G or better coverage from at least one major carrier, about four million Americans have either to resort to 2G or, occasionally, little to no coverage at all. Carriers have long argued that even wireless coverage is often prohibitively expensive for some rural areas since the population counts and median incomes would make any service a money-losing prospect.

By Electronista Staff