U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) led a bipartisan call on Monday for the FCC to update its Universal Services Fund (USF) Mobility Fund, which ensures that wireless broadband service is available in underserved areas, including rural communities.
Wicker and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) co-led the call in a letter to FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler that was signed by 26 additional senators, including U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Steve Daines (R-MT).
“Delivering high-speed mobile wireless service in underserved areas is critical to growing the economy, creating jobs, delivering quality health care, and helping farmers deploy precision agriculture technology in the field,” Wicker said. “As the FCC moves forward with the second phase of the Mobility Fund, the agency should seize this opportunity to help close the broadband gap that exists between rural and urban America.”
The letter states that “significant work remains” to ensure that broadband services that reasonably compare to services in urban areas are available in rural areas.
“Mobile broadband coverage is vital to Colorado’s rural communities, especially given the rise of the ever-expanding Internet of Things,” Gardner said. “For example, farmers rely on mobile broadband to utilize technology for precision agriculture, which would be impossible without mobile broadband. If implemented, Phase II of the Mobility Fund will help ensure Colorado has the necessary resources to expand mobile broadband coverage.”
Without assurances that mobile broadband infrastructure would be deployed and maintained, Daines added, investments in agricultural productivity would be delayed or bypassed entirely.
“The potential efficiencies and benefits to rural communities will be lost,” Daines said. “To address this coverage gap, we urge you to consider a metric of broadband access in croplands (and farm buildings), or some other geographic measurement, in addition to road miles, to identify these areas of greatest need.”