RTG’s webcast on May 8th reviewed the FCC’s Public Notice and the procedures that will be used for the reverse auction (designated as Auction 901) scheduled to be held on September 27. The webcast is available for on-demand viewing. RTG members may email Tanya Sullivan for a soft copy of the slides.

Background: The FCC announced on May 2nd the competitive bidding procedures for Phase I of the Mobility Fund, the first-ever reverse auction for Universal Service support, to accelerate delivery of advanced mobile services that currently lack 3G or 4G service. Winning bidders must deploy either 3G service within two years or 4G service within three years of the award. The Mobility Fund will award up to $300M that was reserved out of savings from the Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF) reforms. As part of last year’s reform, the FCC for the first time made universal mobile service an express universal service goal, and created the Mobility Fund to help close the nation’s gaps in mobile wireless service.