Mobility Fund Critical to Addressing Gaps in Wireless Service, Clyburn Tells CCA

Commissioner Mike O’Rielly offered the opposite take Wednesday, saying CCA members should refocus on making sure the high-cost USF fund continues to fully support mobility (see 1510070060). Several small carrier officials told us Thursday O’Rielly’s message was that he disagreed with CCA members on the mobility fund.

"One of the things that I always hold hope on in this space is the positives of tomorrow,” Clyburn told us. There are still “pockets in this nation” where people don’t have access to wireless service, she said. Clyburn said she was just in her home county in South Carolina after the recent floods. Some places there still aren’t connected, she said. “If you are a low-income individual … and you have cut the cord, tell me how are you going to stay connected in terms of essential services?”

The mobility fund is “the most targeted way” to address gaps in mobility, Clyburn said. She was asked about O'Rielly's views. “We all have our perspectives,” she replied. “I have six years of perspectives,” which is the length of time she has served on the commission. “I also hear from individuals, hear from companies” about “what is working and what is needed,” she said. “I welcome a spirited debate.”

Clyburn expressed hope that Chairman Tom Wheeler will agree the FCC should approve a revamped mobility fund. “The chairman has been in this space for a long time,” she said. “He recognizes that there are still places in this nation that need attention. I know and am confident that he will listen to those proposals that would close these divides. From where I sit this is the best path forward, but all I want is a path forward at the end of the day.”

“What I am not pleased with, is the lack of movement on adopting a permanent mobility fund,” Clyburn told CCA. “The commission decided on a dedicated mobility fund nearly four years ago” but funding for competitive eligible telecom carriers is frozen at 60 percent of 2011 levels, she said. “Now is the time, for the commission to ensure that funding directly to mobile providers extracts the most value for each dollar of universal service spent, and now is the time for consumers in unserved areas to have service that most of us take for granted.”

Clyburn also told us she doesn't go into the incentive auction wearing rose-colored glasses. But she also said she has met with several companies at CCA to get their take on the auction. “What I was uplifted about was the fact that all of the challenges that we talked about, how do we get devices to consumers in an expedited manner, these questions, these issues are being addressed right there by vendors on the floor,” she said.

Clyburn said she's more optimistic than ever that small carriers will participate in the auction. Clyburn conceded that carriers have difficult business decisions to make. “I’m not going to say that all is rosy,” she said. But she also said she's more optimistic about broad participation in the auction than she was based on similar discussions with competitive carriers at CCA a year ago: “I am more psyched than ever before.”

Clyburn also said she supports the FCC’s launch of a rulemaking on 24 GHz and high-frequency spectrum. “5G networks promise to offer higher data speeds with lower latency than current networks, and I believe we should ensure that our spectrum management policy with regard to allocations above 24 GHz should promote competition as much as our spectrum policies below 3 GHz,” she said.