by Tyler Hale
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has announced plans to establish a $9 billion fund to support the deployment of advanced 5G mobile wireless service across rural America.
The 5G Fund, would provide Universal Service support to carriers to implement 5G in “hard-to-serve areas with sparse populations and/or rugged terrain,” according to a FCC release.
“5G has the potential to bring many benefits to American consumers and businesses, including wireless networks that are more responsive, more secure, and up to 100 times faster than today’s 4G LTE networks,” Pai said in a statement. “We want to make sure that rural Americans enjoy these benefits, just as residents of large urban areas will. In order to do that, the Universal Service Fund must be forward-looking and support the networks of tomorrow.”
Agriculture will be a specific focus for the 5G Fund plan, with Pai noting that farms have “unique wireless connectivity needs. At least $1 billion of the total $9 billion fund would be reserved for precision agriculture needs.
“Moreover, America’s farms and ranches have unique wireless connectivity needs, as I’ve seen across the country. That’s why I will move forward as quickly as possible to establish a 5G Fund that would bring next-generation 5G services to rural areas and would reserve some of that funding for 5G networks that promote precision agriculture,” he says. “We must ensure that 5G narrows rather than widens the digital divide and that rural Americans receive the benefits that come from wireless innovation.”
The adoption of the 5G Fund will replace the Mobility Fund Phase II, which aimed to provide increased 4G coverage in rural areas. According to an FCC report, multiple cellular services, including Verizon, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile “likely overstate” their 4G coverage when providing coverage maps to the FCC. Read the report here.
Extending broadband services has been a major topic recently for Arkansas officials. In May 2019, Gov. Asa Hutchinson released the Arkansas State Broadband Plan, which is designed to provide high-speed internet to all Arkansas communities. with a population of 500 residents or greater. This plan, projected to be completed by 2022, would provide internet service with a rate of 25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits per second for uploading.
The purpose of the Arkansas State Broadband Plan, Hutchinson said, is to “overcome regional inquities” that exist between urban and rural areas.
READ MORE: Broadband Access in Underserved Areas