Clarify Standards for WISP Bidding on Gigabit RDOF, FCC Asked
Broadband stakeholders differed on whether the FCC should reconsider letting wireless ISPs and DSL providers bid at the gigabit tiers in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund phase I auctions, in recent interviews. Some want more stringent evaluation of short-form applications. Others appreciate the hurdles the agency set for such providers. Commissioners vote Tuesday on an RDOF auction procedures public notice (see 2005190058).
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Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., sought information from the FCC by June 12 on options for “expediting the distribution” of RDOF support, as expected (see 2005070055). The PN has potential carve-outs for fixed wireless and DSL.
USTelecom supports the changes, said Vice President-Policy and Advocacy Lynn Follansbee. She agreed with the commission's decision to put more scrutiny on WISPs because providers don't offer gigabit service widely.
NTCA members don't believe rural fixed wireless and DSL providers can provide 1 Gbps, said Senior Vice President-Industry Affairs and Business Development Mike Romano. NTCA wants the agency to define the standards by which such applicants would be evaluated. Romano said the technologies can be tools in the broadband toolkit, but he isn't sure how either can extend gigabit service beyond a few hundred feet. "It's not clear how that helps in rural areas where homes are a mile apart," he said.
The Fiber Broadband Association wants "a lot more rigor" in the text, said CEO Lisa Youngers. "A minuscule number" of WISPs can provide gigabit service, she said: Location, topology and line of sight factor in. She doesn't know how the agency can evaluate a provider's capability "unless the FCC is planning to walk every area" where providers plan to offer 1 Gbps.
The Wireless ISP Association is pleased the FCC reversed course from an earlier PN draft that would have prohibited all WISPs from applying for 1 Gbps if they hadn't filed a previous Form 477 at that tier. Vice President-Policy Louis Peraertz said the agency recently allocated new fixed wireless spectrum, including unlicensed.
GeoLinks provides voice and gigabit service using hybrid terrestrial and fixed wireless networks and wants the FCC to reconsider easing the way for WISPs that haven't proven their ability, said General Counsel Melissa Slawson. "They don't have the real-world experience to do so," she said: "They may not understand the rigors" of engineering the network for such speeds.
Accelerating the RDOF timeline “may help speed up our efforts to close the digital divide,” Wicker wrote FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a letter released Wednesday. Wicker began exploring the issue after NARUC President Brandon Presley (D) and two other Mississippi public service commissioners wrote him about it in April (see 2004290064). Wicker cited the recently filed Rural Broadband Acceleration Act. HR-7022 would require the FCC to award funding by Sept. 30 to Phase I applicants in census blocks where “there is only 1 qualified applicant willing to commit” to provide gigabit broadband service within one year. Wicker asked what the FCC would need to do under the Administrative Procedure Act to “modify the framework of the auction to meet the accelerated deadlines” proposed in HR-7022.
NARUC asked the FCC to accelerate review of applications promising symmetrical gigabit fiber service and to start awarding funds for qualified census blocks by September rather than wait for the Oct. 29 auction, in a filing posted in docket 20-34 Tuesday. USTelecom doesn't support this, Follansbee said, saying it would take agency attention away from review of short-form applications. It would benefit a few providers and risk delaying the auction, she said.
WISPA "disagrees strongly" with speeding RDOF fiber support, said Peraertz. "You're essentially putting the thumb on the scale for fiber." Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup said, "The commission could have done a better job of being technology-neutral."
Hughes is evaluating whether to bid, said Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner. The company filed Monday supporting Viasat's asking the FCC to reconsider hybrid terrestrial and geostationary satellite networks.