A change of administration brings a change to the FCC as the majority swings from Democratic to Republican. I’ve always maintained a regulatory wish list, and the following are my hopes for what we’ll see out of the new FCC. These aren’t predictions – just my own list of hopes. I note that the current FCC didn’t grant me very many of the items on my wish list four years ago.

Keep Going with the 5G Fund – But Get the Maps Right First. We’ve spent a lot of energy in the last five years talking about the rural broadband gap. However, from my experience in working in rural America, there is a much bigger cellular coverage gap. Millions of folks live in places where they can’t make or receive cell calls at home. What’s probably worse is that cell coverage is dreadful for the many more people who drive through rural areas as part of their job. The FCC’s proposed 5G Fund for Rural America could address a lot of this problem, but the FCC cellular coverage maps are far worse than any older version of broadband maps. I fervently hope the FCC doesn’t repeat the blunders it made in the past by relying on bad maps – like RDOF. I hope the FCC takes some time and gets the maps right before it hands out billion to fund new cell towers. If they do this right, this FCC will go on record as one that made folks’ lives better.

Enforce RDOF Buildout Requirements. Speaking of RDOF, we’ve reached the point where a substantial portion of networks funded by RDOF should have already been constructed. I know numerous counties that haven’t seen any construction yet from RDOF. The FCC should take a hard look at actual RDOF completion at the end of this year and should yank the funding from any ISP that isn’t meeting its commitments. The FCC should make an effort to verify claims of network completion – unlike with CAF II when large telcos fully fabricated many of the updates they had supposedly made. It’s not hard to pick up the phone and talk to local officials who can verify if they’ve seen new RDOF broadband networks being constructed.

Push Congress to Get Spectrum Auction Authority. I know this is already on the FCC’s wish list. While they are at it, ask Congress to give the proceeds of any auctions to the FCC to further universal service goals. It would be nice to see the 5G Fund improvements be required to be completed over a few years instead of spreading the requirement over much of the decade as was done with RDOF.

Say No to Big ISPs Once in a While. The FCC has a mandate, like any regulatory agency, to balance the needs of the industry and the needs of the public. Republican-majority FCC’s have always leaned towards the benefits of the big ISPs. Surprise everybody and make a few rulings that curb the worst excesses of the big companies – you’ll be praised for it.

Put Some Teeth Back Into the Consumer Complaint Process. The FCC complaint process has always been the last resort for customers who are treated poorly by ISPs. The FCC historically stepped in and demanded that ISPs take care of the worst individual abuses. This was always handled quietly behind the scenes and didn’t create precedents or new rules for ISPs. However, the complaint process curbed some of the biggest excesses when the ISPs knew the FCC was watching.

Do Not Declare Job Done and that Rural Broadband has Been Fixed. Making those kinds of announcements never goes well.