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Rural 5G looks to grow

Jeff Johnston CoBank
May 22, 2021
May 22, 2021

1 of 2

The industry is on the cusp of receiving billions in federal support to help subsidize the cost of building broadband networks in rural America. Most of those dollars will go toward building fixed-line broadband networks, but 5G will still play an important role.

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Jeff Johnston CoBank

Many things have changed since the first 5G phone was launched about two years ago in the United States. Sprint and T-Mobile merged, with commitments to build out 5G coverage in rural America. Verizon spent an unprecedented amount of money at the C-band auction to support its 5G-network build plans. Dish Network is now in the early stages of building a greenfield nationwide 5G network, and the cable operators are planning to build regional 5G networks.

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Jeff Johnston is a lead economist with CoBank. Visit cobank.com for more information.

Key Points

The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act requires operators to rip and replace all non-compliant equipment in their networks. It prevents them from using Universal Services Funds to procure noncompliant equipment.
The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act includes $1 billion to cover associated network costs. The funding is insufficient – and has yet to be appropriated by Congress.
Affected operators are stuck in a holding pattern as they wait for the Federal Communications Commission to define the rip and replace rules, and for Congress to appropriate the funds.
All that uncertainty is wreaking havoc for affected operators and is putting rural residents at risk of losing critical communication services at the worst possible time.
Operators urgently need Congress and the FCC to act so they can do their work to ensure rural residents stay connected.

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