The Federal Communications Commission will host a webinar on the process for challenging the identification of areas initially deemed ineligible for universal service funding through the Mobility Fund Phase II (MF-II) reverse auction. The webinar will be held on May 3, 2018 at 2:00 pm ET.
Last year, the FCC adopted rules governing the MF-II reverse auction to award universal service support for mobile wireless carriers. The Commission established a budget of $4.53 billion over ten years to provide ongoing support for the provision of service in areas that, absent subsidies, lack adequate mobile voice and broadband coverage. Geographic areas lacking unsubsidized, qualified 4G LTE service have been initially deemed “eligible areas” for MF-II support; those with such service have been deemed initially “ineligible.”
On February 27, 2018, the FCC released a map showing areas across the United States initially deemed eligible to receive support for the deployment of 4G LTE service. This map was based on the coverage maps provided by mobile carriers, but if state or local government officials believe the map is incorrect, they now have an opportunity to provide input to help correct the map. The process for submission of evidence to correct the map is called the “challenge process.” The window for submitting a challenge opened on March 29, 2018, and will remain open until August 27, 2018.
