Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Connect America Fund WC Docket No. 10-90 ) ) Universal Service Reform Mobility Fund WT Docket No. 10-208 ) – REPORT AND ORDER AND FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Adopted: February 23, 2017 Released: March 7, 2017 Comment Date: (30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register) Reply Comment Date: (45 days after date of publication in the Federal Register) By the Commission: Chairman Pai, Commissioner Clyburn, and Commissioner O’Rielly issuing separate statements. OF Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BACKGROUND 4 III. GOALS OF THE MOBILITY FUND PHASE II 11 IV. FRAMEWORK FOR II 16 A. Reverse Auction to Award Mobility Fund Phase II Support 17 B. Mobility Fund Phase II Budget 22 C. Tribal Mobility Fund Phase II 31 D. Identifying Geographic Areas Eligible for Support 39 1. Geographic Area as the Metric for Assessing Mobile Coverage 40 2. Minimum Geographic Area for Bidding and Support 47 3. Identifying Areas that Need Mobility Fund Phase II Support 50 4. Source of Coverage and Subsidy Data 55 5. Applying Coverage and Subsidy Data to Census Blocks 62 6. Challenge 65 E. Transition of CETC Support to MF-II Support and Preservation of 68 F. One Provider Per Eligible Area 80 V. PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS 84 A. Performance Metrics 85 B. Term of Support 88 C. Construction Requirements/Benchmarks 94 D. Collocation and Voice and Data Roaming 101 E. Reasonably Comparable Rates 105 VI. PROVIDER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 109 A. Designation as an 110 B. Forbearance from Service Area Redefinition Process 118 C. Spectrum Access 123 D. Financial and Technical 128
Before the D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Connect America Fund Universal Service Reform – Mobility Fund ) ) ) ) ) WC Docket No. 10-90 WT Docket No. 10-208 REPORT AND ORDER AND FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Adopted: February 23, 2017 Released: March 7, 2017 Comment Date: (30 days after date of publication in the Federal Register) Reply Comment Date: (45 days after date of publication in the Federal Register) By the Commission: Chairman Pai, Commissioner Clyburn, and Commissioner O’Rielly issuing separate statements. Heading Paragraph # I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BACKGROUND 4 III. PHASE II 11 IV. II 16 A. Reverse Auction to Award Mobility Fund Phase II Support 17 B. Mobility Fund Phase II Budget 22 C. Tribal Mobility Fund Phase II 31 D. Identifying Geographic Areas Eligible for Support 39 1. Geographic Area as the Metric for Assessing Mobile Coverage 40 2. Minimum Geographic Area for Bidding and Support 47 3. Identifying Areas that Need Mobility Fund Phase II Support 50 4. Source of Coverage and Subsidy Data 55 5. Applying Coverage and Subsidy Data to Census Blocks 62 6. Challenge 65 E. Transition of CETC Support to MF-II Support and Preservation of 68 F. One Provider Per Eligible Area 80 V. 84 A. Performance Metrics 85 B. Term of Support 88 C. Construction Requirements/Benchmarks 94 D. Collocation and Voice and Data Roaming 101 E. Reasonably Comparable Rates 105 VI. 109 A. Designation as an 110 B. Forbearance from Service Area Redefinition Process 118 C. Spectrum Access 123 D. Financial and Technical 128 GOALS THE FRAMEWORK FOR MOBILITY PUBLIC INTEREST OBLIGATIONS ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION OF PROVIDER FUND