FCC sets Dec. 9 deadline to apply for $258.8M in recovery funding
Telecommunications service providers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have until Dec. 6, 2019 to apply for support through the Federal Communications Commission’s $258.8 million allocation to rebuild and expand 4G LTE and 5G technologies for voice and broadband service in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and María.
In an order, the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau opened the call to apply for mobile support through the “Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund” and the “Connect USVI Fund.”
The support will be provider over a three-year period to facilities-based mobile providers in Puerto Rico and the USVI to do the work. For the three-year term, the FCC allocated budgets of $254.4 million to Puerto Rico and $4.4 million to the USVI.
“The Commission determined that eligible mobile providers will have a one-time opportunity to elect to participate in Stage 2 high-cost mobile support by the deadline provided above,” the FCC said.
For each territory, a provider that elects to participate will be allocated a share of the budgeted mobile support based on the number of subscribers it served as of June 30, 2017. As part of the requirements to receive funding, mobile providers must submit their Disaster Response and Recovery Plans, which the FCC must approve prior to disbursing the funds.
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