Call to Action: The FCC seeks comments on the new 5G Rural Fund

The newly created 5G Fund for Rural America is meant to expand mobile 5G broadband into rural parts of the country. The 5G fund will utilize a reverse auction process to award-winning bidders funding to build out 5G networks to rural areas, which will likely include Tribal areas. Therefore, the FCC is seeking comments on Tribal consent requirements for projects under this new fund. Comments must be submitted by October 17. It is crucial that Tribes submit comments on this proposed rule because it will impact the development of critical broadband infrastructure that many Tribal communities rely on.

Historic investments in broadband connectivity are helping to close the Digital Divide. However, Tribes face additional barriers to broadband development like high costs, remote terrain, and land regulation issues. In many cases, these barriers prevent Tribal communities from building traditional internet infrastructure using fiber optic technology and other wireline connections. Innovative wireless technologies are necessary to fully connect many Tribal areas. Access to wireless spectrum is needed to deploy any wireless technology. 

Tribes have historically been left out of spectrum allocation over Tribal lands. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a study in 2018 on Tribal access to spectrum and found that in addition to the many historical barriers to spectrum access, there are current issues with how the FCC handles spectrum licenses over Tribal lands. In the 2018 report, the GAO made several recommendations to provide Tribes with more information on license holders in their areas. The report also includes information on a 2011 FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed new rules to promote Tribal spectrum access. These proposed rules included Tribal priority in spectrum allocations, requirements for license holders to enter into good faith negotiations with Tribes, and a rule that required license holders to build out their network over Tribal lands within a certain time period or risk losing their license.

Out of the 2011 NPRM proposals, the FCC only implemented the Rural Tribal Priority Window. However, The FCC’s new proposed rule for the 5G Fund of Rural America revisits some of the ideas in the 2011 NPRM and the 2018 GAO report. In this new proceeding, the FCC is seeking comments on a proposed rule to require 5G Fund winning bidders to obtain Tribal consent when deploying 5G networks over areas that include Tribal Lands. A similar consent requirement is in place for subgrantees under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. This rule requiring Tribal consent would help to ensure that Tribes are not left out of projects under the new 5G Fund. Please see the FCC’s notice in the Federal Register for more information on how to submit comments. Continue to follow the FCC’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy and AIPI for updates on the 5G Fund and other broadband developments.