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FCC tries to bury finding that Verizon and T-Mobile exaggerated 4G coverage

The FCC in 2017 required carriers to file maps and data indicating their 4G LTE coverage in order to help the commission determine which rural areas should get $4.5 billion in Mobility Fund money over 10 years. But small, rural carriers pointed out that big carriers exaggerated their coverage, potentially preventing those small carriers from getting funding to improve connectivity in areas that lack good service. The small carriers' complaints triggered an FCC investigation in December 2018.

The FCC's announcement of that investigation's findings today came in an odd manner that seemed designed to minimize the amount of attention it gets. A finding that some of the biggest wireless carriers in the US exaggerated mobile broadband coverage is certainly important enough to be mentioned in the headline of an FCC announcement.

Instead, Pai's office announced the issuance of the investigative report in the third paragraph of a press release titled, "Chairman Pai announces plan to launch $9 billion 5G fund for rural America." Pai's press release referred generally to carriers overstating coverage, but it did not name any of the specific carriers that did so.

Pai's office also held a press call with reporters in which FCC officials focused almost entirely on the new 5G fund rather than the carriers' inaccurate filings. As a result, early news coverage of the announcement focused more on the 5G fund than on the carriers' misdeeds.

The two announcements are related, as the FCC said it will try to improve the accuracy of data collection for the 5G fund, which will replace the old Mobility Fund plan. The 5G fund will supply $9 billion to carriers over 10 years, while the Mobility Fund would have distributed $4.5 billion over 10 years for 4G coverage. The money comes from the Universal Service Fund, which is paid for by Americans through fees on their phone bills.

FCC officials didn't voluntarily bring up the topic of whether Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular will be punished for exaggerating coverage. But FCC officials confirmed that Pai does not intend to take enforcement action in response to a question from a reporter during the press call and in response to a question from Ars via email.

Original Submission