I took the unusual step of publish two blogs today. The FCC announced the 5G Fund to improve cellular broadband in rural areas – and this second blog talks about several actions communities might want to consider immediately if your area needs better cellular coverage.

The FCC announced it will move forward with the 5G Plan for Rural America. This new subsidy will provide $9 billion to improve rural cellular coverage. I know in working throughout rural America that poor cellular coverage is often a worse problem that broadband coverage.

The FCC is convinced that the current cellular coverage maps are adequate to define the areas that deserve the new subsidy. In the counties I’ve been working in this does not seem to be the case, and the FCC cellular maps often seem to be overstating speed, similar to broadband speed claims. This was bolstered by a recent letter to the FCC from the Rural Wireless Association that claims that the FCC cellular maps are poor.

Since the FCC seems determined to move forward with the current maps and seems to be on a fast track to initiate the 5G plan,  there should be a sense of urgency in any County that thinks it needs better cellular coverage. The following steps should be considered immediately because it is possible that the FCC could launch the new 5G Fund by the end of the year.

First is to look at the FCC cellular map. This is part of the same map system used to show broadband coverage. Type in any address in a county, and a detailed map will appear. Choose the Mobile Broadband button at the top and you’ll be able to see the claimed cellular coverage at any address. The 5G Fund will bring better cellular coverage to locations where there is no 5G today (just 4G LTE) or where 5G speeds are claimed to be slower than 7/1 Mbps. You can look at the parts of your county where you believe cellular coverage is poor and see if the FCC map agrees with your local knowledge.

The 5G Fund subsidy will only be awarded to areas where the FCC map shows that no carrier is offering 5G with speeds of at least 7/1 Mbps. If even only one carrier meets that criteria, the area will not get funding. You might see some cellular carriers you don’t recognize in the FCC map like Project Genesis (which is Dish) or local cellular carriers.

A next step might be to dash off quick comments to the FCC about the 5G Fund timeline. Surprisingly, the FCC is not planning to have a map challenge period for counties to contest the cellular map coverage. Comments are due to the FCC by September 10. If nothing else, tell the FCC they should include some time for a map challenge. The FCC has been talking about launching this fund for four years, and it seems irresponsible to suddenly rush without giving local governments a chance to verify and challenge the FCC cellular maps.

There was a comment made in this docket that said local governments have had plenty of time to dispute the maps since the new FCC maps have been out for several years. However, all of the counties I have been working with have been concentrating on the FCC broadband maps. Almost nobody has looked hard at claimed cellular speeds – until this order came out, nobody knew what to look for on the maps. Making a comment in an FCC docket is relatively easy to do. The first thing on the form is to ask for the proceeding, which in this case is 20-32 Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America.

Finally, if the FCC maps overstate cellular coverage in your area you need to get folks out taking cellular speed tests using the FCC app in the areas where you think coverage is poor. To be of any use for the 5G Fund the speed tests probably need to be done this month.

Speed tests can only be done using the FCC’s own speed test app. The app is available at the Google Play Store or Apple App store. Speed tests only count if they area taken outside or in a moving vehicle – indoor tests or tests on a WiFi network don’t county. For the 5G Fund, you want to take speed tests from a stationary point, which means pulling over on the side of the road. Tests must be taken between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

You need to have phones subscribed to each carriers you want to dispute. If Dish is the only carrier claiming coverage in a rural area, the only tests that mean anything must be conducted from a Dish phone. Make sure when using the app that you are filing a challenge – it’s possible to use the app to check speeds without the results being sent to the FCC.

Finally, the FCC considers cellular map challenges as a crowd-sourced process. That means a lot of tests are required from each carrier in each disputed area. Taking a handful of tests won’t register with the FCC. Unfortunately, we don’t know how many tests are enough. I have no idea what happens if you try to test a carrier where there is no signal since your phone won’t be connected to broadband.