Washington, DC – The Rural Wireless Association applauds the bipartisan confirmation of Jessica Rosenworcel as Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission.  Rosenworcel has been greatly effective as Acting Chair these past 11 months, and her prior experience at the Commission will be immensely valuable as the FCC continues its efforts to expand broadband access to all Americans.

Now with FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel permanently at the helm, RWA believes that the FCC will: (1) complete the broadband mapping process post haste; (2) reform the USF contribution system; (3) prioritize the spectrum needs of rural America in the Enhanced Competition Incentive Program (ECIP) rulemaking; (4) negotiate with the large mobile carriers to further delay the sunset of 3G networks that many rural Americans currently depend on; (5) move forward with its 12 GHz band proceeding to make more mid-band spectrum available for 5G services; (6) implement the recommendations made by the Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force to increase the use of broadband technology and applications across our farms and ranches; and (7) support affected rural wireless carriers through the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program as necessary in their transition towards more secure communications networks.

RWA looks forward to working with Chairwoman Rosenworcel and hopefully a soon to be fully staffed Commission with the addition of Gigi Sohn as the fifth Commissioner.  Working with a fully staffed FCC led by Chairwoman Rosenworcel on these issues and objectives is critical to solving the rural digital divide and better positioning rural America for economic development in the growing digital landscape.