WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee – today released the following statement in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) investigation into whether any carriers violated the Mobility Fund Phase II reverse auction’s mapping rules:

“As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, I have repeatedly expressed serious concerns regarding the accuracy of the eligibility map for the FCC’s Mobility Fund Phase II auction. Through working with partners like the Kansas Farm Bureau, we were successful in convincing the FCC to take important steps to improve the quality of the data through a bolstered challenge process, and today’s action follows our demands that the FCC look more closely at the coverage data originally submitted to the agency. It is absolutely critical that the Commission remains focused on ensuring that our limited universal service funds are effectively and accurately targeted to areas that lack unsubsidized 4G LTE service.”

The Mobility Fund II would allocate up to $4.53 billion over the next 10 years in support of mobile wireless broadband expansion. The current map shows many areas of Kansas to be covered, when on-the-ground experience suggests otherwise. In May, the FCC extended the challenge process for the map of eligible areas for Mobility Fund Phase II support to 90 days, in response to legislation and a letter led by Sens. Moran, Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H). 

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