Senate Passes Rural Wireless Access Act
The Senate passed the Rural Wireless Access Act (S-1621) Thursday under unanimous consent. The bill, which the Senate Commerce Committee cleared in August, would force the FCC to ensure standardized data collection for USF support eligibility (see 1705110060 and 1708020052).…
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"Unless we have accurate information about where the coverage gaps actually are, we cannot put a solution in place that improves the high-speed internet service of consumers in rural areas,” Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Ala., S-1621's lead sponsor, said in a statement. Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry said in a statement he hopes Senate passage of S-1621 "guides the FCC to take further steps to help improve the consumer experience, especially in rural areas," including on USF High Cost program funding. A "streamlined, reliable and accurate process for collecting mobile wireless data is critically important to help identify areas [th]at are still unserved and underserved to appropriately target resources to preserve and expand mobile broadband," Berry said.