On June 5, 2020, the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireline Competition Bureau (“OEA/Bureau”) released a Public Notice (“Notice”) seeking comment on the proposed adjustment factor values for the 5G Fund (GN Docket No. 20-32).
As you may recall, the 5G Fund Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposed to apply an adjustment factor in order to make the most difficult to serve areas more attractive at the 5G Fund auction and to disaggregate legacy high-cost support. This Notice seeks comment on the below-proposed adjustment factor values and whether these values are appropriate to further the Commission’s objective of distributing 5G Fund and legacy support to a range of economically and geographically diverse areas across the country.
Proposed Adjustment Factor Values:
|
Demand Factors |
Terrain Elevation | |||
| Flat | Hilly | Mountainous | ||
| Low | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.8 | |
| Medium | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.5 | |
| High | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | |
Appendix A provides a terrain elevation map of the United States. The Commission seeks comment on whether using Appendix A and other cost characteristics like spectrum frequency and clutter accurately captures the relative costs of serving areas with differing terrain characteristics.
Appendix B outlines three economic analyses that support the proposed adjustment factor. Various economic characteristics like income, GDP, and population density were used as proxies for demand in the analyses and the Commission seeks comment on whether this allows the adjustment factor values to capture expected revenues that might be generated in each area and allow 5G Fund support to reach economically diverse areas.
- Comments are due July 7, 2020.
- Reply comments are due August 6, 2020.
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