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President Trump and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, are expected to announce the administration's latest plans to provide US leadership in 5G and expand broadband access to rural areas of the country.
On Friday morning, FCC announced a new plan to deploy high-speed broadband in rural communities through the creation of its new digital space development fund in rural areas. According to the FCC, the fund will "inject" $ 20.4 billion into broadband networks to connect up to 4 million households and rural businesses to broadband over the next decade.
"This is an essential tool for bridging the digital divide and will provide some of the essential infrastructure to connect rural Americans to 5G technologies," Pai said.
According to the FCC, funding for this new program will come from a "reallocation" of the Universal Service Fund, a subsidy system to promote access to telecommunications services in underserved areas of the United States . "It will be about $ 2 billion every year over the next decade to allocate … this funding to rural operators in order to develop broadband networks," Pai said.
Specific details as to how this will work are unclear, but Mr. Pai said that the committee intended to clarify them as the plan progresses in the process of establishing of traditional rules later this year.
Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel was not as optimistic as her Republican counterpart. "Until now, this administration's interventions on 5G have done more harm than good," Rosenworcel said in a statement. "It's about imposing tariffs on 5G equipment, alienating allies for the safety of 5G or getting left behind by the rest of the world on a critical mid-frequency spectrum, the White House has still not proposed a viable plan for US leadership. "
"I hope that today 's announcement will be better because our global leadership is at stake," continued Rosenworcel.
Officials will also unveil the next big FCC effort in favor of 5G, announcing the "biggest bid for the specter of US history," Pai said. The FCC will auction three different spectrum bands at the same time on December 10th.
"Overall, the story of 5G is a success story, a US success story, and we still have to do more and we will do it," said Pai.
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