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Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C.  20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT

February 10, 2012
Neil Grace, (202) 418-0506
neil.grace@fcc.gov

FCC ANNOUNCES STEPS TO CLOSE NATION’S GAPS IN ADVANCED MOBILE SERVICE 

THROUGH THE MOBILITY FUND PHASE I AUCTION; NEW INTERACTIVE MAP 

ILLUSTRATES POTENTIALLY ELIGIBLE AREAS FOR SUPPORT 

Washington, D.C. – The FCC today announced steps to close our nation’s gaps in mobile service as part 
of the agency’s groundbreaking reforms under the Connect America Fund, which the Commission 
adopted last year to put America on the path to universal broadband and advanced mobile coverage by the 
end of the decade.  The Commission recently released a public notice (PN) announcing a reverse 
auction to award $300 million in one-time Mobility Fund Phase I support starting the implementation 
process. It also has developed and released a new interactive map to illustrate areas potentially eligible 
for support.
FCC Chairman Genachowski said, “As our new map demonstrates, millions of Americans still live, work, 
and travel in areas where advanced mobile networks have not been built out. Through the FCC’s Connect 
America Fund, we’re helping complete our nation’s wired and wireless infrastructure, which will lead to 
job creation, economic growth, and innovation in the 21st century.”
As part of the Connect America Fund, the Commission created for the first time the Mobility Fund, a 
universal service support mechanism dedicated exclusively to mobile services. Phase I of the Mobility 
Fund will provide one-time support to accelerate our nation's ongoing efforts to close gaps in mobile 
wireless service. The Mobility Fund helps improve coverage in these areas for current-generation or 
better mobile voice and broadband services.
In the PN, the Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline Competition Bureaus announce the first 
auction (Auction 901) to award high-cost universal service support through reverse competitive bidding 
and seek comment on identifying geographic areas eligible for support, determining the basic auction 
design, and establishing certain other bidding procedures. Auction 901 will award one-time support to 
carriers that commit to provide 3G or better mobile voice and broadband services in areas where such 
services are unavailable. Before the auction, the Bureaus will provide the final list of census blocks 
available, related data such as road miles and population, an interactive mapping interface, along with 
additional information designed to assist potential bidders considering participation in the auction.  The 
auction is scheduled to begin on September 27, 2012.
To help illustrate areas in the U.S. that currently lack access to advanced mobile networks, the FCC 
developed an interactive visual representation of the areas preliminarily identified as potentially eligible 
for Mobility Fund Phase I support and large pockets of our nation that lack access to 3G mobile service or 
better. The innovative map is based on data from American Roamer showing census blocks served and 
underserved by 3G or better mobile coverage. 

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Broadband has gone from being a luxury to a necessity for full participation in our economy and society 
all Americans.  For that reason, the FCC adopted once-in-a generation reform of the multi-billion dollar 
Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) systems, transforming it into the 
Connect America Fund to accelerate broadband build-out to the 18 million Americans living in rural areas 
who currently have no access to broadband infrastructure.  These reforms will help expand the benefits of 
high-speed Internet to millions of consumers in every part of the country by the end of the decade.

--FCC--

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