```

[Senate Hearing 115-887]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                        S. Hrg. 115-887

                 THE RACE TO 5G: A VIEW FROM THE FIELD

=======================================================================

                             FIELD HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                         COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                      SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                            OCTOBER 12, 2018
                               __________

    Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation
                             
                             
                  [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                             

                Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
57-908 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2025                 

       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                     ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi            BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma               GARY PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado               CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  JON TESTER, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
              Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                      Renae Black, Senior Counsel

                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
Hearing held on October 12, 2018.................................     1
Statement of Senator Thune.......................................     1

                               Witnesses

Hon. Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications 
  Commission.....................................................     3
    Prepared statement...........................................     5
Hon. Paul TenHaken, Mayor, City of Sioux Falls...................     7
    Prepared statement...........................................     9
Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, President, Dakota State University.....    10
    Prepared statement...........................................    13
Robert Fisher, Senior Vice President, Federal Government Affairs, 
  Verizon........................................................    26
    Prepared statement...........................................    28
Justin Forde, Senior Director, Government Relations, Midcontinent 
  Communications.................................................    31
    Prepared statement...........................................    32
Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer, SDN Communications........    37
    Prepared statement...........................................    39

                                Appendix

Letter dated September 27, 2018 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. Brian 
  Schatz from Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Officer, NTCA--
  The Rural Broadband Association................................    57
Letter letter dated October 3, 2018 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. 
  Brian Schatz in support of S. 3157.............................    58
Letter dated October 15, 2018 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. Bill 
  Nelson from Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director, The United 
  States Conference of Mayors....................................    61
Letter dated July 27, 2018 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. Bill 
  Nelson from Scott D. Pattison, Executive Director and Chief 
  Executive Officer, National Governors Association; William T. 
  Pound, Executive Diector, National Conference of State 
  Legislatures; Matthew D. Chase, Executive Director, National 
  Association of Counties; Clarence E. Anthony, CEO/Executive 
  Director, National League of Cities; Tom Cochran, CEO and 
  Executive Director, The United States Conference of Mayors; and 
  Christopher P. Morrill, Executive Director/CEO, Government 
  Finance Officers Association...................................    62
Letter dated October 2, 2017 to Ajit Pai, Chairman; Mignon 
  Clyburn, Commissioner; Michael O'Rielly, Commissioner; Brendan 
  Carr, Commissioner; and Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, 
  Federal Communications Commission from Tom Cochran, CEO and 
  Executive Director, The U.S. Conference of Mayors; Matthew 
  Chase, Executive Director, National Association of Counties; 
  Steve Taylor, Executive Director, National Association of 
  Telecommunications Officers and Advisors; and Clarence Anthony, 
  Executive Director, National League of Cities..................    64

 
                 THE RACE TO 5G: A VIEW FROM THE FIELD

                              ----------                              

                        FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018

                                       U.S. Senate,
        Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                   Sioux Falls, SD.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:08 p.m. CDT, at 
Carnegie Town Hall, 235 W. 10th Street, Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota, Hon. John Thune, Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
    Present: Senator Thune [presiding].

             OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

    The Chairman. Let me just say good afternoon and welcome to 
everybody and thank you for coming. Today, I've convened this 
hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee to explore ways to 
maintain global leadership in the race to 5G, while ensuring 
the benefits of remarkable new wireless technologies reach 
rural America.
    Over the past two years, I have convened several hearings 
in Washington, D.C., aimed at identifying barriers to the 
deployment of next-generation services and what we can do in 
Congress to help lower them. I am pleased that today we will be 
able to discuss these very important issues right here in South 
Dakota.
    I've heard from stakeholders throughout the country who 
represent American businesses that are on the ground building 
and maintaining our communications networks, deploying 
infrastructure, and bringing to market cutting edge 
technologies like autonomous vehicles, precision agriculture, 
and remote health care services that will transform our 
everyday lives.
    We have also heard from the community and tribal leaders, 
small businesses, hospitals, schools, and everyday Americans 
that will benefit from this important technology.
    The race to 5G has begun, and the United States has the 
technology to win it. But as I've said before, technology is 
only part of the equation. We must ensure that wireless 
providers have spectrum on which their systems can operate, and 
they must be able to deploy those networks in a reasonable and 
timely manner. The MOBILE NOW Act, which is a bill I authored 
last year, and it was enacted earlier this year, addressed both 
spectrum and infrastructure needs, but more work needs to be 
done.
    In July, the Committee examined ways to free up more 
spectrum for 5G. I am pleased to see both the Federal 
Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration are taking critical steps this 
year to make more spectrum available for wireless use. And our 
Committee will continue to encourage innovative approaches to 
using spectrum more efficiently
    Indeed, spectrum is critical to winning the race to 5G, but 
removing barriers to infrastructure deployment is the final 
piece of the puzzle. Earlier this year, I introduced a bill 
called the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act on a bipartisan 
basis with Senator Schatz. The STREAMLINE Act reflects more 
than a year of hard work with stakeholders, including many here 
today, to eliminate needless barriers to deploying 5G and to 
bring the benefits to American consumers. In fact, just last 
week we received a letter of support for the STREAMLINE Act 
signed by 25 groups representing a range of stakeholders from 
health care to agriculture, the automotive and manufacturing 
industries, Internet companies, consumer technologies, and 
more.
    I am confident that our legislation will allow Americans 
across the country, no matter where they live, the ability to 
reap the benefits of 5G leadership while at the same time 
respecting the important role that State and local governments 
play in deployment decisions.
    Additionally, I am very pleased that the FCC, as part of an 
effort led by Commissioner Carr, has just taken an important 
step to modernize its siting rules consistent with the goals of 
the STREAMLINE Act.
    As Mayor TenHaken knows, making infrastructure siting 
easier is particularly important for those of us in rural 
America, where the business case for deployment is different 
than in larger metropolitan areas. Lowering deployment costs is 
especially important in more rural communities, where we simply 
don't have the population density to justify deployment if 
those barriers are high. Excessive fees, delays, and 
uncertainty can ruin the case for deployment of 5G for a 
community. I'm proud that our home state of South Dakota is 
leading the way in 5G.
    Dr. Griffiths together with Dakota State University are 
training the young men and women who will design and protect 
our 5G networks and the services that they will offer.
    Mayor TenHaken and Commissioner Carr are leading the way 
with their work to establish rules and policies that encourage 
5G deployment.
    And Justin Forde, from Midco; Mark Shlanta, from SDN 
Communications; and Robert Fisher, from Verizon; are working to 
deploy the 5G networks and related infrastructure that will 
bring South Dakota the next generation of wireless 
communications.
    I want to thank all of you for being here today. I look 
forward to hearing from you, as well as an opportunity to enter 
into discussion as we get a chance to fully drill down on some 
of these issues and what we can do to bring 5G more quickly and 
more effectively here to South Dakota.
    So I'm going to start on my left with Commissioner Carr, 
Brendan Carr, who, by the way, this is his second trip to South 
Dakota, and every time he comes out here, he goes and does 
things to enjoy the state. Today, he climbed a 2,000-foot 
tower, I'm told, so maybe he'll tell us about that. But I 
appreciate the interest that he has taken in the challenges of 
delivering these types of services to rural areas of the 
country and his attempts to understand the unique needs and 
challenges that we have.
    So we'll start with him and then move to the Mayor of Sioux 
Falls, the Honorable Paul TenHaken; Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, 
who is President of Dakota State University; Robert Fisher, who 
is Senior Vice President of Federal Government Relations for 
Verizon; and, as I said, Mr. Justin Forde, who is Senior 
Director of Government Relations at Midcontinent 
Communications; and then Mr. Mark Shlanta, who is Chief 
Executive Officer for SDN Communications.
    It's great to have all of you here today. Thank you for 
being here.
    And we'll start with Commissioner Carr. Please proceed. We 
look forward to hearing from you.

     STATEMENT OF HON. BRENDAN CARR, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL 
                   COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Commissioner Carr. Thank you, Chairman Thune, for the 
invitation to testify. It's great to be back with you in South 
Dakota for this field hearing on 5G and to join this 
distinguished group of witnesses. I can think of no better way 
to identify the barriers that slow down deployment and the 
steps we can take back in Washington to remove them, than 
spending time like this outside of D.C.
    On my way here, I spent time in Minnesota, North Dakota, 
and South Dakota. I heard firsthand the challenges that 
broadband providers face in building next-gen networks in rural 
America. And I saw the grit and determination the telecom crews 
demonstrate in getting the job done. Whether it was Justin on 
top of an already snow-covered grain elevator in Thompson, 
North Dakota, that's now beaming broadband in a community of 
1,000; or with Steve while he attached a new radio on a water 
tower in Shorewood, Minnesota, that's adding capacity to the 
network; or this morning with Amos and Mike on a 2,000-foot 
tower in Rowena, South Dakota; these visits underscore the work 
we need to do to make these jobs easier.
    This week I also heard from the Great Plains innovators, 
job creators, and health care providers, that simply would not 
be operating in these communities without a broadband 
connection.
    So this field hearing is important. It puts our shared goal 
for 5G front and center. We want every community in the country 
to see the economic opportunity that 5G can enable. Spectrum 
and infrastructure are key.
    So I want to commend the Committee for leading on them. 
Chairman Thune championed the MOBILE NOW Act, which frees up 
the spectrum needed for next-gen services.
    And I want to acknowledge both Chairman Thune and Senator 
Schatz for their work on the bipartisan STREAMLINE Small Cell 
Deployment Act, which would cut red tape that's been slowing 
down small cell deployments.
    And at the FCC, we're building on the Committee's efforts. 
In the U.S., as you know, we're on the cusp of a major upgrade 
in wireless to 5G. The Wall Street Journal has called it 
transformative from an economic and technological perspective, 
and they're right. Winning the global race to 5G, seeing this 
new platform deployed in the U.S. first, is about our economic 
leadership for the next decade.
    Those are the stakes. And here is how we know it. Think 
back 10 years ago when we were on the verge of upgrading from 
3G to 4G. Think about the largest stocks, the biggest drivers 
of our economy. It was big banks and big oil. Now it's U.S.-
based technology companies that have transformed our economy 
and our lives. Think about your own life. A decade ago, taking 
a road trip, like I've done this week, meant walking into your 
local AAA office, telling them the stops along your way and 
waiting for them to print out a TripTik booklet filled with 
maps that you'd unfold as you drove down the highway. Now an 
app lets you get real-time directions right on your phone.
    American companies led the way in developing these 4G 
innovations. It is not by chance that the U.S. is the world's 
tech and innovation hub. We have the strongest wireless economy 
in the world because we won the race to 4G. And being first to 
5G will matter even more. As Deloitte put it, ``First-adopter 
countries . . . could sustain more than a decade of competitive 
advantage.''
    And, after all, we're not the only country that wants to be 
first to 5G. One of our biggest competitors is China. They view 
5G as a chance to flip the script. They want to lead the tech 
sector for the next decade, and they're moving aggressively to 
deploy the infrastructure needed for 5G. Since 2015, China has 
deployed 350,000 cell sites. We've built fewer than 30,000. 
China is deploying 460 cell sites a day. That's 12 times our 
pace.
    So we have to be honest about this infrastructure 
challenge. And from Congress, to the White House, to the FCC, 
to State and local leaders, we have a plan, and we're executing 
on it. For our part, the FCC is working to get the government 
out of the way so the private sector can construct the hundreds 
of thousands of new small cells needed for 5G.
    In March, we excluded small cells from the costly review 
procedures designed for 100-foot towers. That decision cut $1.5 
billion in red tape, and one provider is now clearing small 
cells for construction at six times the pace as before. So 
we're making progress.
    When I think about success, when I think about winning the 
race to 5G, the finish line isn't the moment we see next-gen 
deployments in New York or San Francisco; success can only be 
measured when all Americans have a fair shot at next-gen 
connectivity.
    So just two weeks ago, the FCC took another step in the 
right direction. We built on the bipartisan ideas championed by 
Senators Thune and Schatz, as well as dozens of State and local 
leaders. We streamlined the local permitting process. That 
decision cut another $2 billion in red tape, will stimulate 
$2.4 billion in new small cell deployments, 97 percent of which 
will be in rural and suburban communities, and we can 
accelerate that progress with the commonsense ideas contained 
in the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act. Doing so would 
represent another solid win for the U.S. in the race to 5G.
    So, Chairman Thune, thank you again for holding this 
hearing. I look forward to hearing from the other witnesses, 
and welcome your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Commissioner Carr follows:]

           Prepared Statement of Brendan Carr, Commissioner, 
                   Federal Communications Commission
    Chairman Thune, thank you for the invitation to testify. It is 
great to be back with you in South Dakota. I want to commend you and 
the Committee for holding this field hearing on 5G. Spending time like 
this outside of D.C.--hearing directly from community leaders and 
broadband providers alike--is critical. I can think of no better way to 
identify both the regulatory barriers that needlessly slow down 
broadband deployment and the steps we can take back in Washington to 
remove them. And this field hearing helps put our shared goal for 5G 
front and center: We want every community in the country, from New York 
to Yankton, to see the economic opportunity that broadband enables.
    As this hearing makes clear, spectrum and infrastructure are key 
for 5G. So I want to start by commending the Committee for leading on 
these two issues. Chairman Thune championed the MOBILE NOW Act, which 
frees up the spectrum necessary for next-generation wireless service. 
And on the infrastructure side, I want to acknowledge both Chairman 
Thune and Senator Schatz for their work on the bipartisan STREAMLINE 
Small Cell Deployment Act. This bill would update our Nation's 
infrastructure policies by cutting the red tape that threatens the 
deployment of 5G networks. At the FCC, we are building on your efforts, 
and we recognize that the time to act is now.
    In the U.S., we are on the cusp of a major upgrade in wireless to 
5G. The Wall Street Journal has called it transformative from a 
technological and economic perspective. And they're right. Winning the 
global race to 5G--seeing this new platform deployed in the U.S. 
first--is about economic leadership for the next decade. Those are the 
stakes, and here's how we know it.
    Think back ten years ago when we were on the verge of upgrading 
from 3G to 4G. Think about the largest stocks and some of the biggest 
drivers of our economy. It was big banks and big oil. Fast forward to 
today: U.S.-based technology companies, from FAANG (Facebook, Apple, 
Amazon, Netflix, and Google) down to the latest startup, have 
transformed our economy and our lives.
    Think about your own life. A decade ago, catching a ride across 
town involved calling a phone number, waiting 20 minutes for a cab to 
arrive, and paying rates that were inaccessible to many people. Today, 
we have Lyft, Uber, Via, and other options.
    A decade ago, sending money meant going to a brick-and-mortar bank, 
standing in that rope line, getting frustrated when that pen leashed to 
the table was out of ink (again!), and ultimately conducting your 
transaction with a teller. Now, with Square, Venmo, and other apps you 
can send money or deposit checks from anywhere, 24 hours a day.
    A decade ago, taking a road trip across the country meant walking 
into your local AAA office, telling them the stops along your way, and 
waiting for them to print out a TripTik booklet filled with maps that 
you would unfold as you drove down the highway. Now, with Google Maps 
and other apps you get real-time updates and directions right on your 
smartphone (Otherwise, there's little doubt that I'd still be lost in 
Yankton instead of speaking to you today).
    American companies led the way in developing these 4G innovations. 
And it's not by chance or luck that the United States is the world's 
tech and innovation hub. We have the strongest wireless economy in the 
world because we won the race to 4G. No country had faster 4G 
deployment and more intense investment than we did. Winning the race to 
4G added $100 billion to our GDP. It led to $125 billion in revenue for 
U.S. companies that could have gone abroad. It grew wireless jobs in 
the U.S. by 84 percent. And our world-leading 4G networks now support 
today's $950 billion app economy.
    That history should remind policymakers at all levels of government 
exactly what is at stake. 5G is about our leadership for the next 
decade.
    And being first matters. It determines whether capital will flow 
here, whether innovators will start their new businesses here, and 
whether the economy that benefits is the one here. Or as Deloitte put 
it: ``First-adopter countries. . .could sustain more than a decade of 
competitive advantage.''
    After all, we're not the only country that wants to be first to 5G. 
One of our biggest competitors is China. They view 5G as a chance to 
flip the script. They want to lead the tech sector for the next decade. 
And they are moving aggressively to deploy the infrastructure needed 
for 5G.
    Since 2015, China has deployed 350,000 cell sites. We've built 
fewer than 30,000. China is deploying 460 cell sites a day. That is 
twelve times our pace. China now has 1.9 million cell sites. We have 
around two to three hundred thousand. Put differently, China has more 
than 13 times the number of cell sites per mile as the U.S.
    We have to be honest about this infrastructure challenge and show 
the courage to act.
    From Congress, to the FCC, to the White House, we take this 
challenge seriously. The U.S. has a plan, and we're executing on it. 
For our part, the FCC is working to get the government out of the way, 
so that the private sector can construct the hundreds of thousands of 
new cell sites needed for 5G in this country.
    In March, we updated Federal historic and environmental reviews to 
reflect new, 5G technology. While the old rules were written for 200-
foot towers with large footprints, the majority of wireless 
infrastructure being built today is made up of small cells, often the 
size of a backpack. Requiring every new small cell to go through the 
lengthy and costly review designed for 200-foot towers was like 
requiring a commercial pilot's license to fly a paper airplane. The 
outdated reviews were not providing any real benefit to Americans. And 
they had real costs--in both dollar figures and in the race to 5G.
    For evidence of the problem, look no further than last year's Super 
Bowl, which was played at NRG stadium in Houston. The construction of 
the stadium itself, including the parking lot, did not involve any 
Federal historic review. But when a wireless provider tried to build 23 
small cells on the stadium and on poles in the parking lot so that fans 
could send pictures and videos from the Big Game, our old approach 
required historic preservation review for those backpack-sized 
antennas. In the end, one wireless provider paid nearly $180,000 in 
historic review fees to attach small equipment onto the massive 
concrete stadium and parking lot.
    Unfortunately, that was not an isolated incident. Twelve thousand 
dollars for reviewing a small cell outside a steel factory in East 
Chicago, Indiana. Another twelve thousand dollars for reviewing a small 
cell placed between a sidewalk and a highway in Ohio. A million dollars 
for reviewing small cell nodes in Atlanta. The fees were pointless, 
increasing, and draining the limited capital needed to deploy broadband 
and 5G in communities across the country.
    So the FCC stepped in to fix that broken Federal review process. 
Given their much smaller size and footprint compared to large towers, 
we held that small cells should not go through the costly and lengthy 
reviews designed for 200-foot towers. And we're already seeing results. 
That decision cut $1.5 billion in red tape, and one provider reports 
that it is now clearing small cells for construction at six times the 
pace as before.
    So we're making progress. But hurdles remain. We've heard from 
dozens of mayors, local officials, and state lawmakers--including 
officials right here in South Dakota--who get what 5G means. They 
understand the economic opportunity that comes with next-gen networks. 
But they worry that the billions in investment needed to deploy these 
networks will be consumed by the high fees and long delays imposed by 
big, ``must-serve'' cities. They worry that, without Federal action, 
they may not see 5G. I'd like to read from a few of the many comments 
I've received over the last few months.
    Duane Ankney is a retired coal miner from Montana, a Member of the 
Montana State Legislature, and chair of its Energy and 
Telecommunications Committee. He writes: ``Where I see the problem is, 
that most of investment capital is spent in the larger urban areas. 
This is primarily due to the high regulatory cost and the cost recovery 
[that] can be made in those areas. This leaves the rural areas out.''
    Mary Whisenand, an Iowa commissioner, writes: ``With 99 counties in 
Iowa, we understand the need to streamline the network buildout process 
so it's not just the big cities that get 5G but also our small towns. 
If companies are tied up with delays and high fees, it's going to take 
that much longer for each and every Iowan to see the next generation of 
connectivity.''
    Ashton Hayward, the Mayor of Pensacola, Florida, writes: 
``[E]xcessive and arbitrary fees . . . result[ ] in nothing more than 
telecom providers being required to spend limited investment dollars on 
fees as opposed to spending those limited resources on the type of 
high-speed infrastructure that is so important in our community.''
    And the entire board of commissioners from a more rural area in 
Michigan writes: ``Smaller communities such as those located in St. 
Clair County would benefit by having the [FCC] reduce the costly and 
unnecessary fees that some larger communities place on small cells as a 
condition of deployment. These fees, wholly disproportionate to any 
cost, put communities like ours at an unfair disadvantage. By making 
small cell deployment less expensive, the FCC will send a clear message 
that all communities, regardless of size, should share in the benefits 
of this crucial new technology.''
    They're right. When I think about success--when I think about 
winning the race to 5G--the finish line is not the moment we see next-
gen deployments in New York or San Francisco. Success can only be 
achieved when all Americans, no matter where they live, have a fair 
shot at next-gen connectivity.
    So just two weeks ago, we built on the many smart infrastructure 
policies championed by state and local leaders. We ensured that every 
city is compensated for its costs in reviewing and approving small cell 
deployments, while putting guardrails in place to address excessive 
fees. We updated the shot clocks that have long applied to local 
reviews to account for the lower impact of new small cell deployments. 
And we ensured that local governments can take reasonable aesthetic 
considerations into account when reviewing deployments. After all, it 
is these local leaders--not FCC commissioners--that will get pulled 
aside at their grocery store or post office if a provider puts up an 
ugly small cell.
    This was a balanced approach that will help speed the deployment of 
5G. It will cut $2 billion in red tape. To put that in perspective, 
that's about $8,000 in savings per small cell--on top of the $10,000 in 
savings from our March decision on Federal historic reviews. Cutting 
these costs changes the prospects for communities that might otherwise 
get left behind. It will stimulate $2.4 billion in new small cell 
deployments. And, importantly, that new investment is enough to cover 
1.8 million more homes and businesses with 5G--97 percent of which are 
in rural and suburban communities. That means more broadband for more 
Americans.
    So I am pleased with the progress we're making. But there is more 
work ahead. The commonsense ideas contained in the STREAMLINE Small 
Cell Deployment Act would solidify the progress we've made while 
further simplifying the process governing the construction of next-gen 
networks. It would represent another solid win for the U.S. in the race 
to 5G.
    Chairman Thune, thank you again for holding this hearing and for 
the invitation to testify. I welcome your questions.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Commissioner Carr. Again thank you 
for the time you've invested in understanding South Dakota, 
what our needs are, and for everything you're doing on the FCC. 
I couldn't applaud more the steps that you and your fellow 
Commissioners have taken in this to prepare and get us ready to 
win that race.
    Mayor TenHaken, who is a tech entrepreneur as well, so 
understands these things really well and is working 
aggressively I know here in the City of Sioux Falls to do 
everything possible to help speed up and enable us to take full 
advantage of some of these technologies. So thank you for the 
leadership that you're taking, and I look forward to hearing 
from you.

            STATEMENT OF HON. PAUL TENHAKEN, MAYOR, 
                      CITY OF SIOUX FALLS

    Mr. TenHaken. Thank you.
    Chairman Thune, thank you for holding this hearing today in 
what you already know as the greatest city in the world, Sioux 
Falls, South Dakota.
    I appreciate the opportunity to address you today on the 
importance of Internet connectivity in Sioux Falls and how 
fifth generation of Internet connectivity is incredibly 
important to South Dakota and to the Upper Midwest.
    Sioux Falls is a growing city in the heart of America. 
Continued investment in connectivity like 5G helps ensure that 
South Dakota remains a technological player in the national and 
international market.
    With the dawn of the digital age and Internet, we've seen a 
new wave of business fueled by entrepreneurs, like myself. In 
2008, I founded the marketing technology firm Click Rain here 
in Sioux Falls. Thanks to the explosive growth of the Internet 
and digital commerce, our company quickly found our way onto 
the Inc 5000 list 5 years in a row as one of America's fasting 
growing private companies, and soon became one of the largest 
marketing technology firms in the Upper Midwest. My background 
in this space gives me a heightened level of interest and 
expertise on the subject, of which I am quite passionate about.
    Today, nearly every sector of Sioux Falls' economy counts 
on a fast and reliable Internet connection. Organizations like 
Avera Health are operating one of the most robust eCARE 
backends in the country, right here in Sioux Falls. 
CarsForSale.com is a dot-com success story that has created 
hundreds of jobs here in Sioux Falls. DocuTAP, just up the 
street, provides hundreds of tech careers delivering EMR 
software to urgent care clinics all over the world. The common 
thread of success amongst all these companies: fast, reliable 
connectivity.
    As the United States strives to be one of the first nations 
with a fully functional 5G network, the city of Sioux Falls 
strives to be the first mid-market city with a 5G 
infrastructure. Right now, wireless carriers are negotiating 
small cell tower location review fees and easement fees with 
local governments to install 5G infrastructure, and that's 
happening right here in Sioux Falls.
    As Mayor, it's not my intent to profit off carriers to 
deploy 5G infrastructure. We seek fair and reasonable 
compensation for city staff time to review applications from 
carriers. And, in turn, we offer a reasonable time-frame to 
approve or deny these applications, or work with the carrier on 
an alternative site. Last, we want easement fees that cover the 
inflationary costs we incur with carriers locating their 
technology on our city assets. It's a very basic ask: make the 
city whole on our costs to review and house the infrastructure 
that carriers need to deliver this connectivity.
    It is critical that Federal regulations protect local 
governments and allow them to set reasonable fees that cover 
costs. Giving carriers authority to set fees that are unfair to 
local governments is, in essence, an unfunded Federal mandate 
that will cost local governments tens of millions of dollars 
when you consider the thousands and thousands of small cells 
that will be deployed across the Nation in the coming years.
    5G plays a pivotal role in the future of economic 
development, workforce development, and innovation in this 
city. For autonomous vehicles to be safe and viable, we need 
5G. For enhanced public safety with high-definition feeds for 
police officer cameras, we need 5G. The opportunities 5G brings 
to our community are endless, and I look forward to working 
with this Committee, the FCC, and the carriers to successfully 
and expeditiously deploy 5G in Sioux Falls.
    So in closing, I want to thank Chairman Thune for your 
leadership in this area. Your vision for streamlining 5G 
deployment across the U.S. that is fair to communities, 
consumers, and carriers is a step in the right direction.
    I am excited to foster and support 5G in Sioux Falls as we 
seek to grow our technological footprint in this city and 
remove unnecessary barriers for entry for this critical 
infrastructure. We're ready to help you lead this effort.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. TenHaken follows:]

              Prepared Statement of Paul TenHaken, Mayor, 
                   City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
    Chairman Thune, thank you for holding this and hearing, and welcome 
to the great City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I appreciate the 
opportunity to address you today on the importance of Internet 
connectivity in Sioux Falls and how the fifth generation of Internet 
connectivity is incredibly important to South Dakota and the Upper 
Midwest.
    Sioux Falls was incorporated in 1876, around the same time in 
history when communication in the United States was transformed by the 
telegraph system, and the same year Alexander Graham Bell sent the 
first human voice over an electric telegraph wire. Fast forward to 
today, Sioux Falls is a growing city in the heart of America. Our 
geographic distance from larger cities is immaterial for access 
information and communication. Today, the city and its citizens are 
data-driven, we are information creators and consumers, and we are 
mobile in a global economy. South Dakotans can work remotely for any 
global company, talk with clients around the world and read news from 
Washington, D.C., and other capitols throughout the world. Continued 
investment in connectivity, like 5G, helps ensure that South Dakota is 
a member of the national and international market.
    With the dawn of the digital age and the internet, once again, 
communication and information channels were revolutionized for rural 
America, and birthed new businesses and fueled entrepreneurs, like 
myself. In 2008, I founded the marketing technology firm, Click Rain, 
in Sioux Falls. Thanks to the explosive growth of the Internet and 
digital commerce, our company quickly become our way onto the Inc 5000 
list for five straight years as one of America's Fastest Growing 
Private Companies and one of the largest marketing technology firms in 
the Upper Midwest.
    Today, nearly every sector of Sioux Falls' economy relies on a fast 
and reliable Internet connection. As an essential part of personal and 
professional life, our mobile devices and the infrastructure supporting 
the connection of these devices is an economic and quality of life 
driver for Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the entire region. 
Organizations like Avera Health are operating one of the most robust 
eCARE backends in the country, right here in Sioux Falls. 
CarsForSale.com is a dot-com success story that has created hundreds of 
jobs in Sioux Falls. DocuTAP provides EMR software to urgent care 
clinics across the globe. The common thread of success amongst all 
these companies: fast, reliable connectivity.
    In particular, the future of telemedicine from providers like Avera 
will be revolutionized as the prevalence of 5G grows. Avera's eCARE 
launched in 1993 focused on telemedicine care, and today it provides a 
wide continuum of care including emergency, ICU, pharmacy, senior care 
and behaviorial health. This team has touched 1.4 million patients 
across 18 states and has saved $200 million in health care dollars over 
the past 25 years. 5G will no doubt increase the capability of patients 
to receive care from wherever they have access to a computer, tablet or 
phone.
    Imagine the ability of a doctor in Sioux Falls to consult with a 
doctor and patient in Pierre while sharing a 3D CAT scan that is 
several gigabytes in size and at a 4K resolution. Traditional 
connections today would prohibit that type of communication on a 
routine or on demand basis and require that same patient to travel to 
Sioux Falls to see the Sioux Falls Specialist and the 4k 3D image. 5G 
technology would allow this interaction to occur in milliseconds. This 
technology could also provide telemedicine for simple and complex 
medical needs from a patient's home or in an ambulance while being 
transported to the nearest hospital. The potential is great and the 
benefits are tremendous.
    The deployment of 5G is of great importance to the continued 
evolution of connecting rural America to the rest of the world. As the 
United States strives to be the first nation with a fully functional 5G 
network, the City of Sioux Falls strives to be the first mid-market 
city with 5G infrastructure.
    Right now, wireless carriers are negotiating small-cell tower 
location review fees and easement fees with local governments to 
install 5G infrastructure, cities with outdated ordinances are faced 
with updating regulations that allow small cell towers.
    As mayor, it is not my intent to profit off carriers to deploy 5G 
infrastructure. We seek fair and reasonable compensation for city staff 
time to review applications from carriers. In kind, we offer a 
reasonable time frame to approve or deny applications, or work with the 
carrier on an alternative site. Lastly, we want easement fees that 
covers the inflationary costs we incur with carriers locating their 
technology on city assets. It's a very basic ask--make the city whole 
on our costs to review and house the infrastructure you need to earn 
your profits.
    Recent guidance from the Federal Communications Commission and the 
proposed legislation before this Committee seeks to standardize 
negotiations for cities and carriers, and in many cases is aligned with 
my philosophy of rapid deployment in Sioux Falls. It is critical that 
Federal regulations protect local governments and allow them to set 
reasonable fees that cover costs. Giving carriers authority to set fees 
that are unfair to local governments is in essence an unfunded Federal 
mandate that will cost local governments tens of millions of dollars 
when you consider the thousands of small cells that will be deployed 
across the Nation in the coming years.
    Cutting-edge technology, innovation, forward thinking and proactive 
planning are crucial to preparing Sioux Falls and the region for 
quality of life improvements driven by technology advancements, and 5G 
plays a pivotal role in the equation. For autonomous vehicles to be 
viable, we need 5G. For enhanced public safety with high-definition 
feeds for police officer body cameras and surveillance equipment, we 
need 5G. The opportunities 5G brings to our community are endless, and 
I look forward to working with this Committee, the FCC and carriers to 
successfully and expeditiously deploy 5G in Sioux Falls.
    In closing, I want to thank Chairman Thune's leadership in his 
area. His vision for streamlined 5G deployment across the United States 
that is fair to communities, consumers and carriers is a step in the 
right direction. The Chairman understands the importance of connecting 
rural states with the rest of the world as well as the economic 
opportunities 5G offers to states like South Dakota. I am excited to 
foster and support 5G in Sioux Falls as we seek to grow our 
technological footprint and remove unnecessary barriers to entry for 
this critical infrastructure.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Mayor. Again thank you for 
everything you're doing, and the bold vision that you've 
articulated for Sioux Falls. I hope it can be replicated all 
across our state and across our country. It's moving the ball 
in the right direction, and the sky is the limit in terms of 
what we can do, but it takes the right kind of leadership. So 
thank you.
    Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, is the, as I said, President of 
Dakota State University. I think everybody is well aware of the 
terrific work that she and Dakota State University are doing in 
cybersecurity, and the young, bright, talented people that they 
are producing that are leading the way on a lot of these 
technological fronts. So thank you for being here, and I look 
forward to hearing from you.

STATEMENT OF DR. JOSE-MARIE GRIFFITHS, PRESIDENT, DAKOTA STATE 
                           UNIVERSITY

    Dr. Griffiths. Thank you, Chairman Thune, for the 
opportunity to testify today on this important topic of next-
generation communications infrastructure, services, and 
applications. I'm especially pleased that you chose to hold 
this hearing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, not only because it 
brings you home, Senator, but because I strongly believe that 
South Dakota represents the 68 percent of country's ``tweener'' 
population that live between the East Coast and the West Coast.
    I'm passionate about ensuring that more than two-thirds of 
the country are not bypassed by the next technological 
revolution along with its need to connect not just the last 
mile, but what one of my colleagues calls the ``last inch.''
    I believe the best way to address the three issues that you 
asked of us is to start with a coordinated effort to develop 
widespread understanding and knowledge of what 5G and the cyber 
universe, what I call the Cyberverse, are and why they're so 
important to the economic health, security, and quality of life 
for the United States in both the near--and far-term future.
    As impressive as today's Internet is, it's clear that our 
present telecommunications and cyber environment have major 
problems with limited bandwidth, unacceptably long latency, 
slow speeds, and inadequate reliability, inappropriate 
dependencies on users for security and maintenance, and 
interoperability chaos.
    At the same time as we're hitting a brick wall with our 
existing technology and networking approach, users are 
increasingly demanding far more than simply access to 
information. The complex problems of our 21st century world 
require a more complex and fluid ecosystem of participants, 
machine and human. People don't want to just access or give 
information, they want to interact with it, to be immersed in 
the process of its creation as much as its use, analysis, 
extension and dissemination. And they don't just need to 
interact with it by themselves, they need to collaborate with 
multiple others in a 3-dimensional environment where they can 
tap into people-to-people, machine-to-machine, and people-to-
machine interactions, more like an ocean than a highway.
    I believe to make the greatest progress most rapidly, we 
should create a public-private partnership to build and deploy 
a real-world 5G and Cyberverse testbed. Two years ago, Dakota 
State University developed the idea of South Dakota 5G, we call 
it SD5G, as one, if not the first, 5G ready straight. We 
believe that our state has the characteristics and resources 
that make it the ideal place for such a project. We're eager to 
move forward to create for the Nation a model of how to address 
the various challenges of this transformative approach to the 
delivery and use of technology.
    South Dakota is a geographic area in the United States that 
contains a cross-section of the types of population clusters 
and organizations, geography, climate, industries, and existing 
technologies to explore, troubleshoot, and establish best 
practice models for the technology, as well as for the policies 
and governance required to support 5G deployment and 
development across the country.
    Those who think of South Dakota as home to vast farms on 
the plains, buffalo and cattle ranches stretched across the 
buttes, and the lifestyle of ``Little House on the Prairie'' 
and Native American heritage should be aware that these days 
the state is also home to impressively sophisticated technology 
development and cyber innovation. Silicon Valley or Boston's 
metropolis are rapidly being matched by a technology revolution 
in the center of the United States. DSU cybersecurity and 
Raven's Loon system are matched by multiple enterprises across 
South Dakota working at the vanguard of precision agriculture, 
cutting-edge and distance-delivery health care, and robotic 
manufacturing, among others. To develop and deploy these new 
technologies in a manner consistent with the country's 
democratic values and concerns, we must engage cybersecurity 
professionals in every aspect of this testbed.
    With great power comes great responsibility, and that's 
never been more true than with the development and deployment 
of 5G and migration into the Cyberverse. 5G is what will make 
it possible for us to move into the Internet of Everything; 
however, every time we connect a new device to the network, we 
also potentially open up a new set of vulnerabilities. The U.S. 
is sorely lacking right now in standards and best practices for 
security to build into Internet of Everything devices or the 
software that can easily be installed as part of the basic 
features of any device.
    The U.S. is presently seriously underresourced in 
cybersecurity professionals, and the vast majority of 
cybersecurity professionals that we do have are overextended, 
working to mitigate and remediate existing Internet attacks, 
which multiple faster than the proverbial rabbits. However, 
it's critical that the U.S. ensure that a network upon which 
every activity in this country is dependent is developed in 
such a way that vulnerabilities are reduced as much as possible 
and that the U.S.'s 5G and Cyberverse cybersecurity expertise 
proceeds in step with the development of our national 5G 
networking capability. And this is one area that's of such 
common concern and serves every individual and enterprise in 
the country that it would be appropriate and maybe necessary 
for the Federal Government to help provide the upfront 
investment in the recruitment, education, and deployment of 
cybersecurity professionals in 5G development.
    5G and the resulting Cyberverse are a common good whose 
availability and operability will be critical to every endeavor 
across the United States. As such, it's important that the 
Federal Government provide leadership and corral support for 
those efforts that will move development and deployment of this 
vital national resource.
    It's also the case that we'll only have one chance to do 
this first. According to a study released by Deloitte 
Consulting, the United States is losing the race against China 
to develop and deploy a nationwide 5G network. And there's more 
at stake here than just prestige. The National Security Agency 
has stated that if China dominates the telecommunications 
network industry, it will win politically, economically, and 
militarily.
    In addition to the concerns of national security, there's 
no question that the first country to effectively deploy 5G 
will also reap enormous macroeconomic gains. The first to 
deploy 5G in the Cyberverse in a real-world setting will also 
be the country to understand the strengths, weaknesses, 
opportunities, and threats related to the new technology.
    The United States was the first country to develop and 
implement the comprehensive Internet, initially building on the 
foundation and integrating multiple federally developed 
networks. The results have been clear and impressive. Despite 
all of the concerns about cybersecurity issues and technology 
dependencies, there is no question that the United States' lead 
in developing and deploying the Internet has had profound 
economic and societal impacts. There is a need once again for 
the Federal Government to step forward and take the lead in 
investment and organizational support for the development and 
deployment of 5G and the Cyberverse.
    In summary, we need a coordinated effort to develop 
widespread understanding of the benefits and implications of 5G 
capabilities accompanied by the creation of a public-private 
partnership to build and deploy real-world 5G Cyberverse 
testbed, preferably across South Dakota--of course, I'm biased 
now--and engage cyber professionals in all aspects of testbed 
development and deployment.
    Thank you for your attention.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Griffiths follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, President, 
                        Dakota State University

5G Networking--From the Internet to the Cyber Universe--the Cyberverse 
    From the Information Superhighway to an Ocean of Collaborations

A shift from driving data location to location to living, working, and 
   playing in an environment of technology-infused interactions and 
                             collaborations

INTRODUCTION
    This hearing is asking those of us testifying to address three 
topics:

  1)  Existing barriers to broadband deployment on the horizon of next 
        generation wireless technology deployment,
  2)  ways to encourage investment in next generation communications 
        services, and
  3)  ways to streamline broadband deployment siting.

    I believe the best way to address all three of these issues is as 
follows:

  1)  Invest the resources necessary to build widespread understanding 
        and knowledge of what 5G and the Cyber Universe are and why 
        they are so important to the economy, security, and quality of 
        life for the United States in both the near and far future;

  2)  Engage cyber security professionals in every aspect, from the 
        ground up, of the creation of a 5G and Cyber Universe testbed 
        such that the model U.S. 5G environment is not only effective 
        and efficient, it is also safe and ensures the privacy and 
        democratic values to which we in the U.S. are committed; and

  3)  Rapidly create a publicly/privately-funded partnership to build 
        and deploy a real-world 5G and Cyberverse testbed across a 
        geographic area in the U.S. that contains a cross-section of 
        U.S. population clusters and organizations, geography, climate, 
        industries, and existing technologies, to explore, 
        troubleshoot, and establish best-practice models for the 
        technology as well as the policies and governance required to 
        support 5G development and deployment across the country.
I. BUILDING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF 5G AND THE NEW CYBER 
        UNIVERSE--What are 5G and the Cyberverse and why should anyone 
        care?
    In order to build widespread understanding and knowledge of what 5G 
is and why it is so important to the economy, security, and quality of 
life for the United States and its citizens in both the near and far 
future, we must first be clear about what is 5G and what is the new 
Cyber Universe--the Cyberverse--it will enable.
    We have become accustomed to our technology becoming, ever rapidly, 
faster and more capable. We understand that most of our computers or 
smart phones or networks have a half-life shorter than most pro 
football coaches (their average is about 3 years). It's hard to be 
excited or very energized by--or put a lot of investment into--some new 
technology that we anticipate will lose its ``wow'' factor predictably 
and soon. The ``yawn factor'' runs deep these days in the general 
public's--and even much of leadership's--reaction to calls from techies 
to embrace yet another supposed new breakthrough technology with some 
new strange name, like ``5G and the ``Cyberverse.''
    5G is NOT just another iteration of what has come before. In 
reality, calling 5G the fifth generation, just as 1G was first 
generation, 2G was second generation, etc. is a misnomer. 5G is a 
totally new and radical approach, not just to telecommunications and 
networking, but to how we live, work, and play in the cyber universe.

        A) THERE IS TROUBLE ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
        As amazing as the Internet is, there is trouble on the 
        Information Superhighway. We are facing multiple problems in 
        our present cyber environment, including availability/capacity, 
        reliability, speed, responsiveness, interoperability, security, 
        energy efficiency, expandability, and the flexibility to 
        support the complex problem-solving processes that the complex 
        problems of the 21st century require.

        i) Travel on the Internet is not optional--network connectivity 
        and technology access are essential community goods

        Today, the technology an organization uses--and how effectively 
        it uses it--is just as essential to its success as its reason 
        for existence--the service or product it generates. There is 
        really no significant activity in this country that does not 
        depend heavily, and often for its very existence, on 
        technology, telecommunications, and computer networking. From 
        finance to agriculture to manufacturing to healthcare to 
        government to entertainment, the cogs of our modern society 
        move by the power of cyber.

        All this cyber use means that the traffic on the Information 
        Superhighway is increasing at a rate that is difficult to 
        grasp. According to a study by Cisco, Internet traffic is on 
        target to increase by 25 percent every year between 2016 and 
        2021. We are also on trend that by 2021 the number of devices 
        connected to IP networks will be more than three times the 
        global population, at the equivalent/per capita of 3.5 
        networked devices for every man, woman, and child on the 
        planet. Between 2016 and 2021 we will have added 10 billion 
        devices online, from 17.1 billion in 2016 to 27.1 billion in 
        2021. It would take more than 5 million years for one person to 
        watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks 
        each month in 2021.\1\
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    \1\ https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-
provider/visual-networking-index-vni/vni-hyperconnectivity-wp.html

        ii) Traffic jams are increasingly common--capacity constraints 
        are creating availability, reliability, speed, and 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        responsiveness problems

        All this traffic is causing global-sized traffic jams. The 
        bottom line is that we don't have enough lanes on the 
        Information Superhighway to accommodate everyone and everything 
        that wants to use it. And we don't have enough available real 
        estate on the present routes, i.e., the presently used radio 
        spectrum bands, to add more lanes, technically called 
        bandwidth. The result is the cyber world matches L.A. traffic 
        at rush hour in the physical world. And without the required 
        capacity on the Highway, availability, reliability, speed, and 
        responsiveness fall off exponentially.

        Practically, at the busiest times of the day cyber users may 
        find that they are totally unable to even get on the Internet--
        there are simply no lanes available for them, there is no more 
        bandwidth available for their transmissions. We have all had 
        the experience of watching the spinning ball on our monitors 
        with increasing frustration as we try to get on the virtual 
        Highway. If the traffic jam and lack of bandwidth is really 
        bad, the system may just give up trying. An error message will 
        pop up on our screens saying that the connection ``timed out'' 
        and we have to click our mouse or enter a command to try afresh 
        to connect. Once we do connect, depending on how our connection 
        is routed, if we hit a place where the traffic overwhelms the 
        available lanes, the available bandwidth, we may be knocked off 
        the virtual highway altogether and, from our virtual `ditch,' 
        have to try yet again to get back on the highway into a lane.

        All this congestion means that we cannot rely on how long any 
        transmission will take. Latency, the delay between an action 
        taken on my computer and being received at another device, is 
        critical in more and more applications. In the early days of 
        the Internet, trying to `crystal ball' the future, developers 
        attempted to guess at what might be possible if we had this 
        ubiquitous resource to move information around. At the outer 
        edges of that imagining, people suggested things like remote 
        surgery with a physician able to operate robots in an operating 
        room in a rural area, providing life-saving care to patients 
        who do not have access to that specialized surgeon's skill and 
        expertise. They envisioned collaborations involving real-time 
        meetings with hundreds of thousands of people interacting with 
        each other using the same application on their various devices, 
        all at one time, for example following a natural disaster or in 
        a military operation. The reality is that we do now have the 
        technology to do these tasks and many more. However, the 
        increasingly crowded bandwidth of the Internet and the 
        resulting traffic jams not only impact availability and 
        reliability, speed and responsiveness have also deteriorated. 
        The movement of the surgeon's hand tying off a bleeding blood 
        vessel must be transmitted in milliseconds to the robot device 
        actually carrying out the action inside the patient's body. 
        Network latency cannot be an issue.

        And the amount of information to be transmitted is more and 
        more extensive and detailed, which also is going to require 
        more lanes of the highway. A less dramatic but economically 
        significant example is with supply chain management. U.S. 
        manufacturers are dependent on supplies coming from around the 
        world on a predictable schedule. Being able to prepare for a 
        shortage, for example, of the raw materials to make a car's 
        dashboard, can save or cost an automaker thousands of dollars, 
        enabling them to shut down or repurpose a factory line. It's 
        not enough for the ship carrying those materials to have a 
        system with sensors that lets the captain know that a part has 
        broken down inside the engine. Now it is possible and 
        economically necessary for that engine to have sensors that can 
        predict that a part is close to breaking down, which sends a 
        message to a system that figures out when it will fail 
        entirely, which then sends back a message to shut down the 
        engine to save damage to other parts while sending an alert to 
        the repairman as to what needs to be fixed and, simultaneously, 
        notifying a supplier thousands of miles away and multiple steps 
        down the supply chain that the car dashboard factory line is 
        not going to have the parts on time. This scenario is entirely 
        possible, but the present telecommunications system does not 
        have the bandwidth to accommodate this and the other millions 
        of scenarios in multiple industries.

        iii) Too many people have keys--and they're all different--
        maintenance, security, and interoperability in the present 
        technology environment are dependent on millions of (non-
        techie) people being technologically savvy and responsible

        We are also now struggling with a high level of technology 
        knowledge required of even the most casual user. It's one thing 
        when you only have very smart technology people using the 
        network and sharing information. It is another thing when you 
        have millions of people doing that, an enormous number of whom 
        have no interest or ability to, for example, keep their 
        passwords private and change them often, or upgrade software on 
        their multiple devices every time another security 
        vulnerability is identified or a company has decided to upgrade 
        or expand the features available in their applications. In 
        addition, the responsibility for getting all of our various 
        devices connected to the Information Superhighway falls on each 
        of us individually. And often the way to do so is different for 
        each device--smartphone, computer, tablet, gaming console, etc.

        In addition, I think most of us without thinking about it, have 
        all taken on an enormous time-drain of overhead in obtain, 
        maintain, and use our ever-increasing number of devices--a 
        smartphone, a tablet, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, 
        now rapidly being joined by a TV, various kitchen appliances 
        and/or a smart speaker like Alexa. There is at present a 
        serious contrast between, for example, electricity and 
        technology networking.

        Electricity is generally pretty invisible. Except when it goes 
        out, most of us, I don't believe, spend much time thinking or 
        dealing with electricity. We push a light switch--in our 
        kitchen, in our office, in the restroom at the restaurant--the 
        electricity connects and the light goes on.

        This is not the case with our ``smart'' phones. In order for my 
        phone to work in my kitchen, I have a cable coming into my 
        house connected to a cable modem, which I have to set up with a 
        user name and a password. If the network goes down or becomes 
        disconnected, I will have to reset and re-enter the cable modem 
        user name and password.

        The cable modem talks to a Wi-Fi router sitting on a bookshelf 
        in my living room, which also has a network name and password. 
        When the cat knocks that device over and it becomes unplugged, 
        I will also have to plug it back in and re-enter that network 
        name and password. When I brought my cell phone home for the 
        first time (or when I get a new one) I have to go into settings 
        on that phone, have it find my home network (out of an amusing 
        list of network names of my neighbors' Wi-Fi networks), and use 
        the correct user id and password to get it connected to my Wi-
        Fi and, ultimately, to the Internet, where I likely also have 
        to use various different user ids and passwords to get into 
        various sites to access any information I might have online, 
        like my bank account, or be able to purchase something from an 
        online store.

        Going to check my balance in my bank account first thing in the 
        morning, I discover that the before-school teen crowd in my 
        neighborhood has taken over the network bandwidth to check in 
        with their friends as to what they're going to wear that day. 
        It takes so long for my typed-in request to get to the bank 
        website that they consider I've been on my account so long that 
        it's a security risk and they have logged me out. Network 
        latency has hit again. And I haven't even left the house yet. . 
        .

        Heading out for work, I lose my home Wi-Fi connection by the 
        time I'm in the garage, where I have to wait for my phone to 
        (hopefully) connect to my cell network (which also initially 
        required a user id and password) and then via bluetooth to my 
        car's audio system. On the way to work, depending on the 
        coverage of my provider's network, my phone may or may not stay 
        connected during the conversations I'm trying to have while 
        enroute. When I arrive at work and go up to my office, my phone 
        once again has to switch to the office Wi-Fi (which at some 
        point--and perhaps now and again must be repeated--requires yet 
        another user id and password). I get to the office and login in 
        to my computer (yes, another user id and password) and an alert 
        comes up telling me that someone has discovered yet another 
        security vulnerability in my operating system and I must 
        install an update immediately. Installing that update requires 
        my going to a website (where I have to login with--yes--another 
        user name and password), download the software and install it, 
        which takes three attempts because everyone else just got to 
        the office and they are also trying to download the software 
        and so I keep getting logged off the software download site. 
        Once logged on, I send to a coworker a copy of a file that I 
        worked on last night on my home computer. He sends me an e-mail 
        back saying he can't read it, because I have a different 
        version of the software on my computer than he has on his.

        The present networking and computing configuration has put the 
        maintenance, interoperability and most concerning, security of 
        our cyber endeavors in the hands of millions of individuals 
        with minimal knowledge, understanding, and unknown values.

        iv) People no longer want to ride only in their own vehicles--
        21st century problems require fluid multiple interactions for 
        people and technology

        At the same time as we're hitting a brick wall with our 
        existing technology and networking approach, users are 
        increasingly demanding far more than just access to 
        information. The complex problems of our 21st century world 
        require a more complex and fluid ecosystem of participants, 
        machine and human. People don't want to just access or give 
        information, they want to interact with it, to be immersed in 
        the process of its creation as much as its dissemination and 
        extension. And they don't just need to interact with it by 
        themselves, they need to collaborate with multiple others in a 
        three-dimensional environment where they can tap into people to 
        people, machine to machine, and people to machine 
        interactions--more like an ocean than a highway.

        In addition, the machines are becoming smarter and smarter. The 
        last 10 to 20 years have seen phenomenal growth in artificial 
        intelligence and machine learning functionality. Computers are 
        now able to take millions of pieces of data, identify 
        predictive patterns and knowledge, and then use those results 
        to inform and direct further processing and analysis. This is 
        allowing humans to leapfrog over literally years of research to 
        ask new questions in new ways, leading to the creation of new 
        tasks for AI and machine learning machines to work on. However, 
        AI and machine learning require almost instantaneous access to 
        enormous amounts of data and need to transmit enormous amounts 
        of data. Today's crowded Internet cannot accommodate the speed 
        or density of communication that are required for these new 
        functions to work effectively.
B) 5G AND THE CYBER UNIVERSE--the Internet is fixable
    As impressive as today's Internet is, it is clear that our present 
telecommunications and cyber environment has major problems in

   limited bandwidth;

   unacceptably long latency, slow speeds, and inadequate 
        reliability;

   inappropriate dependencies on users for security and 
        maintenance,

   interoperability chaos, and

   inability to accommodate the multidisciplinary, multi-agent 
        processes required of people to people, people to machine, and 
        machine to machine interactions for 21st century endeavors.
i) How 5G will move us from the Information Superhighway to the Cyber 
        Universe
Bandwidth, latency, speed reliability
    5G deals with bandwidth and latency in a new way, resulting in 
orders of magnitude improvements in cyber speed and reliability.
    The radio spectrum is broken up into bands, each with different 
features as you move up into higher frequencies. Our existing 
telecommunications systems work on certain bands of frequencies. 5G 
will run on a new ``high-spectrum band'', which uses higher frequency 
signals than previous generations of telecommunications. The new band 
will be much less congested than at present because there are many more 
frequencies available in higher ranges. These high frequencies are 
great for a number of reasons, one of the most important being that 
they support a huge capacity for fast data. Not only are they less 
cluttered with existing cellular data, and so can be used in the future 
for increasing bandwidth demands, they're also highly directional and 
can be used right next to other wireless signals without causing 
interference or crossover.
    This is very different from 4G towers that fire data in all 
directions, potentially wasting both energy and power to beam radio 
waves at locations that aren't even requesting access to the Internet. 
5G also uses shorter wavelengths, which means that antennas can be much 
smaller than existing antennas while still providing precise 
directional control. Since one base station can utilize even more 
directional antennas, it means that 5G will support over 1,000 more 
devices per meter than what's supported by 4G. Traffic jams, and the 
resulting crashes and slowdowns that contribute to today's lack of 
connection reliability will be a thing of the past once 5G is deployed. 
Given that the Internet of Things is going to move us into an almost 
unimaginable number of devices on the network, we need that capacity 
and speed yesterday.
    With 5G, for example, when a user makes a request from their phone, 
the network will respond about 10 times faster than the blink of an 
eye. (That is, network response times will be approximately 1 
millisecond.) Importantly, this is below the human threshold to even 
detect a delay! To the physician's hands sending signals to the remote 
robot, it will seem to the doctor that he and the robot are moving the 
scalpel at exactly the same time.
Security, maintenance, interoperability
    One of the goals of 5G is to make our networking connections as 
invisible and requiring as little of our attention as electricity does 
now. 5G is designed to have everything connected to everything else, 
and to have all that connectivity taken care of and managed not by each 
individual user but by systems and processes in the Cloud.
    For example, with 5G, the network follows a user through 
``cells''--geographic areas of connectivity. That cell of connectivity 
will no longer depend on a certain type of connection, for example Wi-
Fi or cable. The network will seamlessly connect together all of the 
various cells provided by various technologies. Whether connectivity is 
being provided by a cellular network or a cable modem or a ``small 
cell'' device on the telephone pole outside their window will be of no 
concern to the user and will require no action on their part. In this 
heterogeneous but cohesive network, cells will assess the needs of each 
user's device and route it to the most efficient services regardless of 
where location. There will continue to be larger cells, with broad 
coverage, but other areas, for example, a college campus, will be 
covered by small cell technology hung on lamp posts or the roofs of 
building, and, in new buildings, possibly even inside the bricks in the 
wall. But none of these different connections will require every 
individual user to enter a user id and password as their connection is 
moved from cell to cell.
    For example, algorithms in the network will determine how fast a 
moving device is travelling and what it's networking needs might be 
because of that. An autonomous vehicle might be connected to a large or 
macro-cell, such as a large cellular tower, so that it stays connected 
without having to be shifted from cell to cell as it travels over a 
long distance. However, students walking across campus, texting on 
their smart phones can connect to smaller cells with less coverage, as 
the connections can easily be transferred to the next small cell as 
needed, so quickly that the student won't even notice.
    Everything will be connected to everything all the time, just like 
electricity. Once the connection is there it stays connected. And if it 
goes down, when it comes back up, once again everything will be 
connected to everything else without any intervention on the part of 
users.
    An example of the difference in this approach can already be seen 
in our K-12 schools, many of which have moved from tablets or laptops 
for their students to Chromebooks. What is the difference? For schools, 
which often need to have many hundreds of devices to serve their 
students, teachers, and staff, a huge difference is in tech support. A 
tablet or laptop has an operating system (OS) on it, as well as 
applications. When there is an update to either the OS or any of the 
apps, that update has to be installed on each device. While school 
networks often do have programs that will update multiple machines at 
the same time, some IT support person still has to ensure that all the 
devices are charged or plugged in and on the network and not being used 
at the time to run that program and that no one happened to take their 
machine home the night tech person is installing the upgrade. And that 
some user didn't go rogue and install some out-of-the-ordinary app on 
their machine that collides with the new OS or software upgrade.
    Chromebooks update themselves automatically both for OS upgrades 
and application upgrades. There are no applications on Chromebooks--
they connect to the Internet and use applications in the cloud. If an 
application needs updating, it is updated in the Cloud and the next 
time the students go to that app, they are automatically connected into 
the new version.
    One of the features of 5G is to move to the Chromebook model rather 
than the tablet or laptop computer model. It is a shift away from our 
devices--hardware and what is included and runs on a particular 
device--to having all the technology we need to use running in the 
Cloud. The device we use to connect to the Cloud becomes almost 
unimportant. Incompatible files caused buy only having access to a 
certain old version of a software application would be a thing of the 
past. How many times have we gone to show someone something on our 
phone and say ``oh, I can't get that on my phone--I'll have to show it 
to you on my computer.'' It used to be that children would say ``my dog 
ate my homework.'' Today it is ``my computer crashed and I couldn't 
print it out'' or ``my brother spilled orange juice on my laptop and 
fried my file.'' New excuses will be required with 5G--that homework 
will live in the cloud and be available from anywhere on any device.
    With zero perceived delay in access, even for those large files, 5G 
will change the economics of technology expense within an organization. 
The faster, low latency, reliable connections will make it more 
sensible to move expensive cyber storage and processing into the Cloud, 
which will require much simpler, less expensive, lower-maintenance 
devices in the hands of users.
    In addition, by moving the bulk of processing and storage into the 
Cloud, the energy demands of user devices will drop as well. It will be 
possible for smartphones, for example, to have batteries that last 
weeks or even months, given that the only processing required on that 
device is to make a connection to the network and then the Cloud. 
Medical implants will be able to function for decades without having to 
be removed or upgraded, since only maintaining a connection to the 
network will require very little battery use.
ii) An immersive efficient cyber universe of interactions
    When bandwidth, reliability, latency, security, maintenance and 
interoperability are no longer constraints, it will be possible to 
migrate to a fluid immersive cyber universe of the people to people, 
people to machine, and machine to machine interactions required for 
21st century endeavors.
    Analysts predict that by 2020, each person in a developed country 
will own and use about 27 connected devices. These will range from 
existing technology, such as smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, to 
refrigerators, cars, augmented reality glasses, and even smart clothes. 
Some of these devices will require significant data to be shifted back 
and forth, while others might just need tiny packets of information 
sent and received. The 5G system itself will understand and recognize 
this and allocate bandwidth respectively, thereby not putting 
unnecessary strain on individual connection points.
II. CYBER SECURITY MUST BE BUILT IN FROM THE GROUND UP--and why it is 
        important the U.S. get to 5G first
A) Cyber Security Professionals
    We must engage cyber security professionals in every aspect of the 
development of the U.S.'s 5G system. such that this country's 5G 
environment is not only effective and efficient, it is also safe and 
ensures the privacy and democratic values to which we in the U.S. are 
committed.
    With great power comes great responsibility, and that has never 
been more true than with the development and deployment of 5G and 
migration into the Cyberverse. 5G is what will make it possible for us 
to move into the Internet of Everything (IoE). However, every time we 
connect a new device to the network we also potentially open up a new 
set of vulnerabilities. Presently companies are racing to make their 
devices, from crock pots to lawn mowers, IoE-ready. In the absence of 
instructions and requirements, cyber security tends to be the last 
consideration of most of these manufacturers. The U.S. is sorely 
lacking right now in standards and best practices for security to be 
built into IoT devices, or the software that can easily be installed as 
part of the basic features of any device.
    The U.S. is presently seriously under-resourced in cyber security 
professionals. The vast majority of the cyber security professionals we 
do have are over-extended trying working to mitigate and remediate 
existing Internet attacks, which multiply faster than the proverbial 
rabbits. However, it is critical that the U.S. ensure that a network 
upon which every activity in this country is dependent is developed in 
such a way that vulnerabilities are reduced as much as possible, and 
that the U.S.'s 5G and Cyberverse cyber security expertise proceeds in 
step with the development of our national 5G networking capability. 
This is one area that is of such common concern and serves every 
individual and enterprise in the country that it would be appropriate 
and likely necessary for the Federal Government to provide the upfront 
investment in the recruitment, education, and deployment of cyber 
security professionals in 5G development.
B) Why we must get to 5G first--and why we are falling behind China
    According to a study released by Deloitte Consulting, a top 
industry consulting firm, this past August 2018, the United States is 
losing the race against China to develop and deploy a nationwide 5G 
network. For a long time, the U.S. led in telecommunications and 
networking. As FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has said, the U.S. 
has 5 percent of the world's population but we have over 50 percent of 
the world's 4G deployment. The smart phone revolution and the 
application economy started in the U.S. and we have reaped the rewards 
of that leadership position. Other countries have decided they are not 
going to let that happen with 5G.
    There is more at stake here than just prestige. The National 
Security Agency has stated that if China dominates the 
telecommunications network industry it ``will win politically, 
economically, and militarily.'' Michael O'Reilly, one of the U.S. FCC 
commissioners has stated that he believes if the U.S. loses the race to 
5G it will mean that the Nation will be dictated to by foreign powers, 
many of which can't be fully trusted, don't believe in capitalism, 
don't believe in freedom, don't believe in fair play, don't believe in 
the role of the individual over the government, and rebuke American 
leadership.''
    Deloitte's report also states that since 2015 China has outspent 
the U.S. by $24 billion in 5G infrastructure. China has built 350,000 
new cell sites, while the U.S. has built fewer than 30,000 in the same 
time-frame. The U.S. mobile carriers' industry association, CTIA, 
estimates that the number of cell sites in the U.S. must more than 
double from about 325,000 to 800,000 for 5G to be deployed. Deloitte's 
report noted that China plans hundreds of billions of dollars in 5G-
related spend and suggests that ``China and other countries may be 
creating a 5G tsunami, making it near impossible [for the U.S.] to 
catch up.''
    In addition to the concerns of national security, there is no 
question that the first country to effectively deploy 5G and the Cyber 
Universe will also reap enormous macroeconomic gains. Given the 
increased capabilities of 5G and the Cyberverse, companies that develop 
and are designed to take advantage of those capabilities will quickly 
become global leaders. There is also something called the ``data-
network effect,'' in which early leadership in new markets translates 
into more users who generate more data that, in turn, helps improve 
services and attracts more users. The first to deploy 5G and the 
Cyberverse in a real-world setting will also be the country to 
understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats 
related to the new technology.
III. WE NEED A PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO BUILD AND 
        DEPLOY A REAL-WORLD 5G AND CYBERVERSE
A) What we need
    The United States needs to rapidly create a publicly/privately-
funded partnership to build and deploy a real-world 5G and Cyberverse 
testbed across a geographic area in the U.S. that contains a diverse 
cross-section of population clusters and organizations, geography, 
climate, industries, and existing technologies. This entity will make 
it possible to explore, troubleshoot, and establish best-practice 
models and tools for 5G and the new Cyberverse, as well as the policies 
and governance required to support similar development and deployment 
across the United States.
    5G and the new Cyberverse is clearly critical to the economic, 
safety, and quality of life future for this country. But there is a lot 
we still don't know and won't know until we actually fully deploy and 
use a 5G network and a Cyberverse. And we need to do it quickly.
    A big issue in the U.S. is finding a workable model for 
municipalities, states, and the nation, along with private industry, to 
work together to integrate the multiple networking components and 
resources it is going to take to achieve 5G. In an authoritarian 
country such as China, those are nonissues, and so they are moving very 
rapidly through that process. We can be successful in this work in the 
United States, still maintaining our respect for the rule of law and 
regional rights, but we need a model to do so. To develop that model, 
we need to develop and deploy a test 5G network in an area that has 
multiple types of communities. A model that will work in a large city 
will likely not work the same way in a rural area or a small town. More 
than 85 percent of cities in the U.S. are small, under 10,000 people. 
If we are going to reach ubiquitous 5G, we have to develop a model that 
works in more than just urban areas along the two coasts. However, at 
present the telecom companies are concentrating only on those two 
areas, seeing them as the ``low hanging fruit'' where they can make the 
most money quickly. Only 15 percent of the U.S. population lives on the 
west coast, and only 17 percent in the northeast, which means that 68 
percent of the country does not live in the areas where U.S. telecoms 
are working to develop 5G. It is going to take Federal leadership and 
investment to ensure that more than two-thirds of the country are not 
bypassed by the next technological revolution.
B) SD5G and the SD CYBERVERSE
    South Dakota is now working to become the first state in the Nation 
to develop and deploy a state-wide 5G network and Cyberverse. We 
believe that our state has the characteristics and resources that make 
it the ideal place for such a project. We are eager to move forward to 
create for the Nation a model of how to address the various challenges 
of this transformative approach to the delivery and use of technology.
    An American model for 5G and Cyberverse development and deployment 
must develop best practices that integrate the needs and particular 
characteristics of multiple:

  1.  Cyber security demands, software to hardware, end user through 
        the Cloud

  2.  Technologies--small cell, large cell, fiber, etc.

  3.  Enterprises--education, government, agriculture, manufacturing, 
        health care, transportation, etc.

  4.  Population clusters and types--from urban to rural, with special 
        focus on making sure the ``last mile'' and the ``last inch'' 
        are as connected as the first and reviving ``main street'' 
        through migration to `smart cities'

  5.  Governmental organizational structures and concerns--city, 
        county, state

  6.  Geographies and climates
1) Cyber security demands, software to hardware, end user through the 
        Cloud
    South Dakota is home to Dakota State University (DSU) in Madison, 
South Dakota. DSU is part of a state-wide regental system of six public 
universities. The DSU started in 1881 as a teachers' college to serve 
the growing educational needs of the Dakota Territories and over time 
grew into a comprehensive university. In 1986, a remarkably prescient 
South Dakota state legislature re-missioned DSU to add to these roles 
an augmented and specific focus on technology-infused and technology-
intensive degree programs and R&D.
    Today DSU is one of the leading cyber security universities in the 
country, with four Center of Academic Excellence designations by the 
U.S. National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security, in 
cyber education, operations, and research. The Beacom College of 
Computer and Cyber Sciences has a breadth and depth of cyber degrees, 
associates through doctoral, unmatched by any university in the 
country, its graduates at 100 percent placement, either in a 
professional position or a top graduate school. DSU also has the 
largest cohort in the country of the National Science Foundation's 
CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program, where in exchange for 
scholarship support after graduation individuals serve in a state, 
federal, or tribal organization for the same number of years they 
received the scholarship. Dakota State is also home to the Madison 
Cyber Labs. The MadLabs is a prolific collection of public/private 
partnerships in research, scholarship, economic development, and policy 
development clusters organized around expertise and technology 
application in specific enterprises. DSU has experts exploring and 
working with leading edge technologies in a wide range of disciplines, 
from health care to adaptive technology for individuals with 
disabilities, from digital forensics to cyber security for the 
financial sector, and more. There are presently 14 clusters, and a new 
facility, funded by a private/public partnership, will open in 2019 to 
provide centralized and collaborative space for the MadLabs. Because 
DSU is part of the state-wide comprehensive regental university system, 
it is integrated into a rich fabric of disciplinary experts and 
exploration at the other five universities with their various emphases, 
from agriculture to law, from the medical school to mining.
    South Dakota is thus developing and will be deploying our 5G and 
Cyberverse solutions with the professionals and resources of DSU's 
robust cyber security environment interwoven into every decision and 
solution. We continue to see the enormous cost to public and private 
safety and security when cyber security issues are ignored or left out 
of technology solutions. One only needs to consider the recent issues 
facing Facebook over the last few years to understand that we must 
never again consider cyber security a lower level ``add on'' to our 
technology innovations and solutions.
2) Technologies--small cell, large cell, fiber, etc.
    South Dakota has been remarkably energized and diversified in 
pursuing and taking advantage of networking and cyber innovations and 
technologies. One of the reasons for this is that with a smaller 
population, the state can be remarkably agile in making decisions and 
implementing change.
    In addition, the state has a wide cross-section of needs in its 
population that are representative of the wide cross-section of needs 
across the country. South Dakota has urban (e.g., Sioux Falls) and 
rural populations, and a large collection of typical ``small town 
U.S.A.'' communities. The state continues to have strong concerns and 
is constantly looking for quality-of-life improvements for its Native 
American population, which for the most part continues to face poverty, 
physical and mental health illness, and a lack of socio-economic 
opportunities. Because of the wide geographical distribution of 
population, many physical solutions to issues in education, healthcare, 
transportation, business, development, etc. turn out to be cost-
prohibitive and impractical. Early on, as the State legislature's 1986 
commissioning of DSU illustrates, South Dakotans recognized that 
computing and cyber had more potential to provide solutions to its 
challenges than the models developed and implemented in more 
geographically dense areas of the country. South Dakota is by no means 
alone in this respect. As mentioned before, 85 percent of U.S. towns 
have populations under 10,000 people, and 68 percent of the country's 
population does not live in the primarily urban or population-intense 
northeast or west coast.
    Thus South Dakota has already taken initiatives to create the 
foundation of multiple networking technologies that will require 
integration to deploy 5G and the Cyberverse. The state already has a 
number of areas that have deployed small cells, and a number are under 
development. Sioux Falls and Brookings, two of the state's larger 
cities already have some small cells deployed. Dakota State University 
is working in collaboration with the City of Madison to deploy a city-
wide small cell system in the next year. The state is connected to the 
Internet2 high-speed fiber background through the REED Network.
    One of the most innovative new networking technologies has emerged 
from Google's Project Loon, an effort to find a new way to provide 
Internet access to rural and remote areas. The company that emerged 
from the R&D project uses high-altitude balloons placed in the 
stratosphere at an altitude of about 18 km (11 mi) to create an aerial 
wireless network. The balloons use patch antennas--which are 
directional antennas--to transmit signals to ground stations or LTE 
users. Some smartphones with Google SIM cards can use Google Internet 
services. The equivalent of the ``base station'' that talks directly to 
devices is carried in the balloon (adding new meaning to the idea of 
technology in the ``cloud''). Users of the service connect to the 
balloon network using a special Internet antenna attached to their 
building. The signal travels through the balloon network from balloon 
to balloon, then to a ground-based station connected to an Internet 
service provider (ISP), then onto the global Internet. The system aims 
to bring Internet access to remote and rural areas poorly served by 
existing provisions, and to improve communication during natural 
disasters to affected regions. It was named Project Loon for 2 reasons: 
one was that even Google itself found the idea of providing Internet 
access to the remaining 5 billion unconnected people in the world an 
unprecedented and ``loony'' idea, and `loon was a short-hand for the 
``balloons.''
    It turns out that South Dakota is a significant partner in the Loon 
technology, through the company that makes the highly sophisticated 
balloons, Raven Industries, Inc. Established in 1956 to make high-
altitude balloons, Raven was launched by a group of General Mills 
employees, including General Mills High Altitude Research division 
employee Ed Yost. Yost picked Sioux Falls for its favorable wind 
conditions and over the years the company has focused in on its 
precision agriculture, engineered films, and Aerostar divisions. The 
U.S. military and other government agencies are among its clients. The 
balloons are superpressure balloons filled with helium and stand 49 
feet across and 39 feet tall when fully inflated. They carry a custom 
air pump system that pumps in or releases air to ballast the balloon 
and control its elevation. A small box weighing about 22 lb containing 
each balloon's electronic equipment hangs underneath the inflated 
envelope. This box contains circuit boards that control the system, 
radio antennas and a system to communicate with other balloons and with 
Internet antennas on the ground, and batteries to store solar power so 
the balloons can operate during the night. Each balloon's electronics 
are powered by an array of solar panels that sit between the envelope 
and the hardware. In full sun, the panels produce 100 watts of power, 
which is sufficient to keep the unit running while also charging a 
battery for use at night. A parachute attached to the top of the 
envelope allows for a controlled descent and landing when a balloon is 
ready to be taken out of service. In the case of an unexpected failure, 
the parachute deploys automatically. When taken out of service, the 
balloon is guided to an easily reached location, and the helium is 
vented into the atmosphere. The ground stations use a Ubiquiti Networks 
'Rocket M5'radio and a custom patch antennae to connect to the balloons 
at a height of 12 miles. The balloons are equipped with automatic 
dependent surveillance broadcast and so can be publicly tracked along 
with other hot air and weather balloons.
    Those who think of South Dakota as home to vast farms on the 
Plains, buffalo and cattle ranches stretched across the buttes, the 
lifestyle of Little House on the Prairie, and Native American heritage 
should be aware that these days the state is also home to impressively 
sophisticated technology development and cyber innovation. Silicon 
Valley or Boston's metropolis are rapidly being matched by a technology 
revolution in the center of the United States. DSU's cyber security and 
Raven's Loon system are matched by multiple enterprises across South 
Dakota working at the vanguard of precision agriculture, robotic 
manufacturing, and distance-delivery health care, among others.
    This multifaceted foundation of expertise and deployed technologies 
is making it possible for South Dakota to move rapidly in the 
development and deployment of SD5G and the SD Cyberverse. The only 
constraints at present are garnering the investment needed to move as 
rapidly as we are able to. We understand the national security and 
economic impacts of the United States achieving working and workable 5G 
and Cyberverse models before those countries whose development of these 
technologies will likely not be in our best interest or to our profit. 
South Dakotans long learned how to overcome obstacles and turn dry 
ground into fertile fields, and our efforts in cyber are determined to 
be comparably fruitful.
3) Enterprises--education, agriculture, manufacturing, health care, 
        etc.
    South Dakota, especially over the last century, has developed a 
remarkably diverse business and industry environment. In every area, 
often due to the particular challenges of rural areas and difficult 
geographies, technology development and use is key to the state's 
economic development and health.

        a) Education
        5G and the Cyberverse will be especially transformative in 
        terms of education. The South Dakota university system launched 
        some of the very first online courses, and, for example, DSU's 
        Internet-based degree programs reach students across the 
        country and around the world.

        Technological advances have already moved many rich digital 
        resources far beyond the physical confines of the classroom and 
        into the hands of learners. 5G and the Cyberverse will enable a 
        learning model that will be an international, immediate, 
        virtual, and interactive environment. It will make it possible 
        for teachers and students to learn and interact in much 
        different ways that we do today. The new model will be learner-
        centric, skill-centric, on-demand and personalised, which will 
        in turn improve student development in the areas of critical-
        thinking and collaborative learning.

        5G and the Cyberverse will create a network capable of 
        transferring our tactile communication from one location to 
        another, from one device to another. This will make it possible 
        to move beyond today's online teaching focus of content and 
        information delivery to the ability to train students in hands-
        on skills, what some are calling manual handskill delivery.

        Virtual reality (VR) has initially been developed primarily by 
        the entertainment industry, but with 5G networking in the 
        Cyberverse VR has tremendous potential and relevance for 
        education and training. For example, with a VR application, 
        students could not just learn about the seven wonders of the 
        world, they could visit them and explore on their own, at their 
        own pace and direction the sights and sounds that make those 
        locations especially remarkable. They could stop and examine 
        those things of greater interest to them, and immediately 
        access additional information or locations that would further 
        enhance their understanding and experience. Instead of just 
        studying about the various systems of the human body, VR 
        applications can be developed to allow them to virtually enter 
        a body and follow the bloodflow through the heart and lungs, or 
        perch themselves inside an ear to watch what happens to the ear 
        drum when sound waves hit it.

        Combining tactile and VR communication, it will be possible for 
        students to develop hands-on skills by using simulations of 
        highly sensitive expensive equipment without potentially 
        damaging the real equipment. And medical students can perfect 
        the precise hand motions and pressure required to carry out 
        surgical procedures with applications that even can provide 
        them virtual but realistic feedback on the damage they can do 
        if they do not perform correctly. Students in elementary 
        schools may see the tops of their desks turned into touch-
        sensitive screens, able to assess their progress as they 
        complete assignments and providing them corrections and 
        directions to increase their success.

        One of the populations that has been profoundly impacted by 
        21st century technology developments are individuals with 
        disabilities. At present, with the model of assistive 
        technology that is device-dependent, where applications have to 
        be within the hardware accessed by the user, many assistive and 
        adaptive technologies are far too costly to be available in 
        schools. However, with 5G and the Cyberverse, where the 
        applications will live in the Cloud and users will access them 
        via a device in their hands or on their wheelchair, expensive 
        speech and language technologies, for example, will be made far 
        more widely available for those children who are unable to 
        speak without such assistance. The impact on the ability of 
        those children to participate in a regular educational setting 
        with their peers will expand exponentially.

        Cloud-based robots can be considered as a full-time assistants 
        for students with disabilities, helping them to interact with 
        the standard classroom environment and their peers. Rather than 
        having to call a teacher over for help (which can cost both the 
        student and the teacher time they could be using more 
        productively) the students can take care of the issue with the 
        help of their robot.

        At the college level, we look forward to many applications that 
        can improve today's teaching, learning, and campus experience. 
        Being automatically logged into the classroom as soon as 
        entering the classroom, being alerted by a tactile signal as 
        soon as losing concentration during a lecture, or real-time 
        feedback to a lecturer about areas that students still have 
        problem based on the real-time analyses of their notes are all 
        innovations well within reach with 5G and the Cyberverse.

        Dakota State University began as a teacher's college, and its 
        education degree programs are still central to its mission. In 
        recent years the university has significantly expanded its 
        collaborations with K-12 schools in South Dakota, focusing on 
        two needs in cyber education: a general cyber literacy for all 
        students, and accelerated education and opportunities for those 
        who are interested in pursuing cyber careers. These programs 
        will provide a foundation and structure within which SD5G and 
        the SD Cyberverse can begin to develop, test, and implement 
        some of the many exciting teaching/learning innovations that 
        will be enabled by these new technologies.

        b) Agriculture
        Agriculture is an industry in every state in the union, and in 
        many areas remains a key employer. The United States is a net 
        exporter of food to the world, which has often strengthened 
        both our economic and national security. South Dakota is 
        located in the middle of the country's most agriculturally rich 
        region, and the state's traditional expertise and success in 
        agriculture has continued to move forward. South Dakota is now 
        a leader in technology-based precision agriculture. South 
        Dakota farms are heavily invested in the development and use of 
        automated driving technology, computer vision, telematics, and 
        cloud-based mobile applications to help farmers double or 
        triple their yields--a feat that will be key to keeping up with 
        global food demands as the Earth's population grows over the 
        next thirty years.

        It is a known fact that food sufficiency plays a major role in 
        the peace and prosperity of any country. Predictions are that 
        by 2050 there will be nine billion people on the planet. To 
        feed all those people, experts believe globally agriculture 
        will need to increase current production by 70 percent. It is a 
        race to develop and deploy the technologies to get there, and 
        certainly the first country to do so will reap enormous 
        benefits, not only in its ability to feed its own population 
        but economically to be the preferred marketplace for other 
        countries.

        In the early 1800s, it took about 300 hours of labor to produce 
        100 bushels of wheat. Today in South Dakota, through the 
        application of leading-edge technologies, it takes less than an 
        hour of labor to produce 100 bushels of wheat. However, in the 
        state as around the world, climate change, soil degradation, 
        and water shortages are all challenges that are increasing. 
        Sensors are already available that can be put out in crop 
        fields to collect information such as soil moisture, 
        fertilization, and recent weather impacts. With 5G and the 
        Cyberverse, once the processing is done in the Cloud, these 
        will be able to be simpler and less expensive. The information 
        from the sensors will be able to be transmitted to a central 
        hub, providing farmers real-time access to information and 
        analysis of their land and crop. This information can then be 
        used to logistically plan for the most effective use of their 
        resources like water and machinery.

        Cattle farmers in the west to be profitable have to have herds 
        of thousands of animals distributed over thousands of acres of 
        land. The growth, health, and location of those herds is 
        critical information for the rancher. Cattle and sheep often 
        wander into terrain that is inaccessible by motor vehicles, 
        still requiring location and monitoring by horseback, 
        challenging and slow, especially in winter blizzards, when the 
        livestock often need the most support to survive. GPS devices, 
        passive systems requiring only small units with little energy 
        draw, are already available that can be attached to each 
        animal, which would make it possible for real-time monitoring 
        of the location of one animal or a thousand. In addition, 
        biomedical sensors are now available and shrinking in cost and 
        size that will be able to provide real-time biomedical data on 
        livestock, such as body temperature, pulse, growth, and even 
        tissue resistivity, a significant measure of productivity and 
        market value. Today, neither the bandwidth nor the capacity to 
        accommodate thousands of simultaneous users make this 
        application practical. However, with 5G it will be just one of 
        many that will transform livestock farming.

        South Dakota's vigorous agricultural industries, illustrative 
        of agriculture across the United States, are providing 
        expertise and enthusiasm toward the development of 5G and the 
        Cyberverse across the state.

        c) Manufacturing
        Supplying the needs of the United States through a strong 
        domestic manufacturing sector protects the country from 
        international economic and political disruptions. 5G and the 
        Cyberverse has the responsiveness, concurrency and reach that 
        will transform manufacturing.

        One in every ten jobs in South Dakota is in manufacturing. In 
        2016 the state's manufacturing industry generated more than 
        $4.5 billion of output and accounted for 9 percent of South 
        Dakota's GDP. The state's manufacturing sector has eagerly 
        sought out technology-based innovations to increase 
        productivity, expand markets, and develop new products. South 
        Dakota's Manufacturing and Technology Solutions (MTS) 
        organization is part of the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP). 
        MTS is one of many organizations supporting South Dakota 
        manufacturing in its drive for what is being called Industry 
        4.0, or the next industrial revolution. NIST is advancing 
        `smart manufacturing' as systems that are ``fully-integrated, 
        collaborative manufacturing systems that respond in real time 
        to meet changing demands and conditions in the factory, in the 
        supply network, and in customer needs.'' For example, South 
        Dakota manufacturers are heavily engaged in deploying 
        Collaborative Robots (Cobots) and Autonomous Guided Vehicles 
        (AGVs) on factory floors. South Dakota companies have 
        discovered that implementing these robotic systems improves 
        efficiency, reduces errors, increases safety by relieving 
        humans from dangerous tasks, and reduces machine downtime. 
        Compared to traditional industrial robots, the latest 
        collaborative robots are better suited to high mix, low volume 
        production, meaning they can be used to meet variable demand 
        and for just-in-time inventory processes. However, they also 
        require a more sophisticated technological infrastructure, and 
        large-scale multi-site deployment will require the capabilities 
        of 5G and the Cyberverse.

        South Dakota's manufacturing companies will provide the testing 
        ground for how 5G and the Cyberverse need to be configured to 
        support their activities.

        d) Health Care
        5G and the Cyberverse will have a profound impact on health 
        care delivery in this country, especially for those populations 
        who have historically been underserved. A fast, reliable, high-
        capacity network will make it possible to truly implement 
        telemedicine, and enable providers, first responders, and even 
        civilians to provide medical aid faster, more efficiently and 
        safely.

        The Center for the Advancement of Health Information Technology 
        (CAHIT) is one of the DSU MadLabs and the home of HealthPoint, 
        the non-profit federally-designated health information 
        technology (HIT) resource and support center for all South 
        Dakota healthcare providers. HealthPoint is part of a national 
        network of 60 regional extension centers with a pipeline of key 
        information on health IT. The organization supports medical 
        practices with technology tools and support needed to improve 
        quality of care, increase patients' access to information, 
        utilize health data to determine gaps and interventions, and 
        spend dollars more wisely. As a result of their work, South 
        Dakota leads the Nation in percentage (90.4 percent) of office-
        based physicians that have adopted certified Electronic Health 
        Records. SD5G and the SD Cyberverse will use this existing 
        strong network of already-connected medical practices to 
        explore how best to configure the new technologies to enhance 
        and expand medical care delivery.

        4) Population clusters and types
        South Dakota has a range of population clusters and types and 
        is committed to economic development improvement through the 
        use of technology for all of them. From urban to rural, the 
        state has special focus on making sure the ``last mile'' and 
        the ``last inch'' are as connected as the first. South Dakota 
        is also taking the lead in efforts to ``revive main street'' 
        through migration to `smart cities,' harnessing the power of 
        technological innovation to improve economic health and the 
        quality of life in our small and medium-sized cities.

        South Dakota has the third highest proportion of Native 
        Americans of any state, behind Alaska and New Mexico. Five of 
        the state's counties lie entirely within Indian reservations. 
        South Dakota is also a refugee resettlement state, and its 
        university system has a significant enrollment from 
        international students.

        South Dakota is the 11th-fastest growing state in the country, 
        and Sioux Falls is the sixth fastest-growing city in the 
        country. This growth has been significantly fueled by a young 
        (the median age in the state is 36) entrepreneurial culture 
        that is highly tech savvy.

        At the same time, the state has a vast land mass and much of 
        the population is distributed in rural areas. In this regard 
        South Dakota is representative of much of the center of the 
        United States, which is often resource-rich but connectivity 
        poor. 5G and the Cyberverse must include innovative ways to 
        connect every U.S. citizen, regardless of their location in the 
        country. SD5G and the SD Cyberverse will develop models to do 
        so.

        5) Governmental organizational structures and concerns--city, 
        county, state
        The smaller population of South Dakota, and the distributed 
        population, have required that cities, counties, and the state 
        work together collaboratively to meet the needs of the state's 
        citizens. One of the challenges in deploying 5G and the 
        Cyberverse is the complicated, interwoven, and often mutually 
        exclusive regulations, policies, practices, and laws of 
        different municipalities.

        One of the greatest needs at the Federal level is for new radio 
        spectrum bands to be made available for 5G and the Cyberverse. 
        Senator Thune took the lead toward action on this almost two 
        years ago in the Mobile Now Act proposing reforms that would 
        ensure more spectrum is made available for commercial use and 
        by reducing the red tape associated with building wireless 
        networks. His leadership and interest in moving U.S. technology 
        and networking forward is matched by leadership across South 
        Dakota, and thus the state is a receptive area for developing, 
        deploying, and creating best practices for leading edge 
        technologies.

        6) Geographies and climates
        The United States is a country which, because of its size, has 
        a vast assortment of geographic configurations and climates. A 
        range of 5G and Cyberverse hardware must be developed and 
        deployed that can accommodate the differences in geographic 
        configurations (e.g., mountains) and extremes of temperature 
        (e.g., hot summers and sub-zero winters), wind, and 
        precipitation. Because of its considerable size--the state is 
        380 miles long and 210 miles wide--it covers several geographic 
        areas, each with a different weather pattern. The eastern half 
        of the state has a humid continental climate while the western 
        half of the state falls into the semiarid steppe category. 
        South Dakotans face extremes in temperature: blazing heat waves 
        in the summer and bitter Arctic incursions in winter. In July 
        and August, the mercury can soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, 
        while in winter, it regularly dips below zero. Record-setting 
        temperatures in the state include readings above 115 degrees 
        and colder than minus 40. This makes it an ideal setting to 
        test the weatherability of various technologies, and most 
        especially the ability to maintain the network of connectivity 
        under extreme conditions.
CONCLUSION
    It is exceedingly important to do what we can to remove the 
existing barriers to broadband deployment on the horizon of next 
generation wireless technology deployment, to encourage investment in 
next generation communications services, and find ways to streamline 
broadband deployment siting.
    I believe the best way to address all three of these issues will 
start with a coordinated effort to develop widespread understanding and 
knowledge of what 5G and the Cyber Universe are and why it is so 
important to the economic, security, and quality of life health for the 
United States in both the near and far future. To develop and deploy 
these new technologies in a manner consistent with the country's 
democratic values and concerns, we must engage cyber security 
professionals in every aspect of this testbed. I believe the way to 
make the greatest progress most rapidly is to create a public/private 
partnership to build and deploy a real-world 5G and Cyberverse testbed. 
We are eager to do so in South Dakota, as a geographic area in the U.S. 
that contains a cross-section of the types of population clusters and 
organizations, geography, climate, industries, and existing 
technologies, to explore, troubleshoot, and establish best-practice 
models for the technology as well as the policies and governance 
required to support 5G development and deployment across the country.
    5G and the new Cyberverse is a common good whose availability and 
operability will be critical to every endeavor across the United 
States. As such, it is important that the Federal Government provide 
leadership and support for those efforts that will move development and 
deployment of this vital national resource.
    It is also the case that we will only get one chance to do this 
first. The United States was the first country to develop and implement 
the comprehensive Internet, initially building on the foundation and 
integrating multiple federally-developed networks. The results have 
been clear and impressive. Despite all of the concerns about cyber 
security issues and technology dependencies, there is no question that 
the United States lead in developing and deploying the Internet has had 
profound economic and societal impacts. There is a need once again for 
the Federal Government to step forward and take the lead in investment 
and organizational support for the development and deployment of 5G and 
the Cyberverse.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Griffiths for the great work 
that you and Dak State are doing in this space. It's going to 
take a lot of very trained, skilled professionals to protect 
and safeguard these networks, too, as we develop new 
technologies. So it's exciting stuff that you're involved with.
    Next up is Mr. Robert Fisher, who, as I said, is Senior 
Vice President at Verizon, Senior Vice President of Federal 
Government Affairs. He is here today. We welcome him to South 
Dakota and hope that Verizon is looking at investing heavily in 
these types of technologies in our state. So thank you for 
being here, Mr. Fisher.

  STATEMENT OF ROBERT FISHER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL 
                  GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, VERIZON

    Mr. Fisher. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the 
opportunity to be here.
    My name is Robert Fisher, and I am Senior Vice President of 
Federal Government Affairs for Verizon. I appreciate the 
opportunity to be here to discuss 5G and the policies that the 
United States needs to adopt to win the global race on 5G.
    On a personal note, Mr. Chairman, I just want to thank you. 
As a former staffer of the Senate Commerce Committee many years 
ago under then Chairman John McCain. It's a real honor and a 
pleasure for me to be here today.
    Earlier this decade, Verizon led the way in deploying the 
Nation's first 4G network. Mr. Chairman, here in South Dakota, 
from 2013 to 2018, Verizon alone has invested more than $119 
million in private capital. Today, our 4G network covers more 
than 98 percent of the U.S. population, and now we are leading 
the way on 5G. For example, Verizon created the 5G Technology 
Forum, led the way with a number of technology firsts on 5G, 
built innovation labs to help create next-generation 
applications, and we were the first in the world to launch a 
commercial 5G service called Verizon 5G Home, which is 
currently available in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and 
Sacramento. Verizon plans for rapid expansion of 5G Home and 
the launch of 5G mobility service going into 2019 and beyond. 
But it's helpful to begin our conversation by looking at what 
came before 5G.
    The first generation of mobile technology 1G was about 
voice. 2G introduced text messaging. The move to 3G provided 
the essential network speeds for accessing the Internet through 
smartphones. 4G, with faster data transfer rates, gave rise to 
many of the connected devices and services that we rely upon 
today. Ultimately, 5G will be even faster, allowing greater 
network capacity, more opportunities for connectivity, and 
improved reliability. 5G also represents the potential for up 
to 1,000 times the network capacity of today's 4G LTE network 
and 20 times faster download speeds, and the network latency 
will become even faster than a blink of an eye.
    We believe the economic and social impacts will be 
transformative, and 5G will usher in a true ``Fourth Industrial 
Revolution,'' which will fundamentally change how we live, 
work, and play. It will be the foundation for other 
technologies, such as artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, 
robotics, and biotechnology. In addition to providing a long-
sought competitive alternative to cable broadband, as Verizon's 
5G Home Service does, 5G will provide for an enhanced mobile 
broadband, such as new and immersive virtual reality 
experiences, mission-critical communications, the connections 
that are required for the full capabilities of self-driving 
cars, and the connecting of the Internet of Things.
    It's critically important for the U.S. to lead the way in 
5G. The wireless industry's impact on the State of South Dakota 
due to the evolution of 4G technology already accounts for $587 
million in gross domestic product and 6,700 related wireless 
jobs in the state. We want 5G to build on that success of 4G.
    Commissioner Carr said it best earlier this year, ``The 
stakes are high. Winning the race to 5G could mean 3 million 
new jobs, a half trillion dollars in GDP, $275 billion of 
private sector investment, all without a penny of new taxes. We 
want that, but our friends and competitors in Europe and Asia 
want that, too.''
    To underscore the Commissioner's point, all of this is 
being done with private investment. Fortunately, the FCC and 
Congress have both made great strides to win the race to 5G 
with a focus on infrastructure and spectrum policy.
    Two weeks ago, under Commissioner Carr's leadership, the 
FCC issued a ruling that adopted commonsense guidelines that 
reduced the time and cost of deploying next-generation wireless 
infrastructure while accounting for legitimate local interests. 
The FCC's ruling built on the momentum established over the 
past few years in numerous States and communities to reform 
infrastructure siting.
    In terms of spectrum policy, the FCC has moved fast to open 
up more spectrum and frequency bands that not have 
traditionally been used for cellular communications but are 
critical for 5G. Last week, Commissioner O'Rielly outlined a 
plan for moving forward on the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum to be 
considered at the FCC's meeting later this month.
    Likewise, Mr. Chairman, you have been leading the way to 
advance 5G infrastructure policy in Congress. You and Brian 
Schatz, a Senator from Hawaii, have introduced the STREAMLINE 
Small Cell Deployment Act, or the STREAMLINE Act, to help 
promote the deployment of small cell equipment. The STREAMLINE 
Act modernizes deployment policies while ensuring states and 
localities have the ability to recover their costs. You've led 
the way in ensuring to critical mid-band spectrum, which is a 
critical component of 5G deployment. Mid-band spectrum provides 
a good mix of coverage and capacity and is essential for a 
broad nationwide rollout of 5G technologies.
    Verizon has always worked well with policymakers at all 
levels and hope to do that around the country, and ensure that 
we are building our country's biggest and best network is 
accomplished with the cooperation and support of our government 
partners. While some municipalities have expressed concern 
about having a standardized framework for governing antenna 
siting, I can assure you that Verizon believes in dialogue and 
compromises between providers and localities are more important 
than ever, and we remain committed to that goal.
    The U.S. needs to win the race to 5G, and while Verizon is 
investing and innovating to help us get there, it is critical 
for Federal, State, local governments all to be rowing in the 
same direction. We have to get this policy framework right. 
With your leadership, Mr. Chairman, and working with the 
members of the Senate Commerce Committee, the FCC, and other 
policymakers, we're making great progress, and I have high 
hopes the U.S. will lead the world on 5G network deployment.
    I thank you again for being here today and look forward to 
answering your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Fisher follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Robert Fisher, Senior Vice President, 
                 Federal Government Relations, Verizon
    My name is Robert Fisher, and I am Senior Vice President, Federal 
Government Relations for Verizon. Thank you for inviting me to discuss 
5G--the fifth generation of wireless networks--and the policies that 
the United States needs to adopt to win the global race to 5G.
What 5G Means
    To understand 5G, it's helpful to understand what came before it. 
Broadly, the first generation of mobile technology, 1G, was about 
voice. 2G introduced short-messaging (i.e., text messaging) and the 
move to 3G provided the essential network speeds for accessing the 
Internet through smartphones. Then 4G, with faster data-transfer rates, 
gave rise to many of the connected devices and services that we rely on 
today. According to CTIA, the wireless industry's impact on the state 
of South Dakota, due largely to the roll out of 4G, accounts for $587 
million in GDP and 6,761 wireless-related jobs. Verizon has invested 
more than $119 million in private capital in the state of South Dakota 
since 2013.
    Ultimately, 5G will be even faster, with an exponential growth in 
network capacity, greater opportunities for connectivity and improved 
network reliability. 5G presents the potential for up to 1000 times the 
network capacity of today's 4G LTE network and 20 times faster download 
speeds than 4G. Additionally, network latency--or lag--of less than 10 
milliseconds is many times faster than the blink of an eye. The 
economic and social impacts of this next generation will be 
transformative.
    With 5G, we are on the cusp of the ``Fourth Industrial 
Revolution,'' which will fundamentally change how we live, work and 
play. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is blurring the lines between 
the physical and digital worlds. Everything that can be connected will 
be. Some call it the ``Cyber Physical'' era, building on such 
technologies as artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, robotics and 
biotechnology to prime a fresh wave of innovation--all of it enabled by 
the low latency, lightning-fast speeds, and continuous connectivity of 
5G wireless technology. And Verizon is leading the way in deploying 5G.
Verizon's 5G Leadership
    Verizon's 4G LTE network covers more than 98 percent of the U.S. 
population today, and we plan to quickly expand our 5G service, using a 
wide variety of spectrum frequencies--low band; mid-band; and Ultra 
Wideband (which is what we're using first for Verizon 5G Home). We have 
been the leader in 5G from the start. This has required a lot of 
important steps to get us to where we are today and where we are going. 
We created the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF) in 2015, with partners like 
Ericsson, Intel, Samsung and Qualcomm. As a result of these efforts, 
the first international technical standard for 5G debuted in December 
2017--ahead of expectations. Verizon also lead the way with a number of 
technology firsts on 5G, including the first ``in the wild 5G data 
transmission,'' and we have built 5G innovation labs to help create the 
5G applications that will change how we live, work and play. We were 
also proud to recently announce the world's first commercial 5G 
service, Verizon 5G Home, which launched on October 1st and is 
available for order in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and 
Sacramento. Moving forward, Verizon plans for rapid expansion of 5G 
Home and the launch of 5G mobility service going into 2019 and beyond.
What 5G Will Enable
    What capabilities will 5G enable? Ed Chan, Verizon Senior Vice 
President and Chief Technology Architect, recently said at CTIA's Race 
to the 5G Summit, ``5G will only be limited by our imagination.'' 
Looking back at the predictions of how 4G LTE would be used, no one 
predicted the smartphone and app economy revolution, and it may be that 
the most earth-shattering uses of 5G are things that no one is thinking 
of today--or maybe some young entrepreneur is inventing in her garage 
in Silicon Valley or right here in Sioux Falls?
    Nevertheless, CTIA has described some of the ways that 5G will 
impact the U.S. economy: ``Entire industries, from agriculture to 
transportation, will be transformed to be more capable, efficient, and 
intelligent. That's the promise of 5G.'' In addition to providing a 
long-sought competitive alternative to cable broadband--as Verizon's 5G 
Home service does--5G also will provide for Enhanced Mobile Broadband, 
such as new immersive virtual reality experiences; Mission-Critical 
communications, such as the connections needed for the full 
capabilities of self-driving cars; and connecting the ``Internet of 
Things.''
Policies to Win the Global Race to 5G
    The U.S. winning the race to 5G is not a guarantee. Research by 
CTIA earlier this year found China has a narrow lead over the U.S. and 
South Korea in the race to 5G. It is imperative that we take the lead 
as we did with 4G. Why is it so important? Commissioner Carr said it 
best earlier this year: ``The stakes are high. Winning the race to 5G 
could mean three million new jobs, half a trillion dollars in GDP, and 
$275 billion of private sector investment, all without a penny of new 
taxes. We want that. But our friends and competitors in Europe and Asia 
what that too.'' To underscore the Commissioner's point, all of this is 
being done with private capital. Fortunately, we know what needs to be 
done. Commissioner Carr hit on the winning playbook: focus on spectrum 
and infrastructure. Congress and the FCC have made great strides on 
both parts of this playbook.
    Under Commissioner Carr's leadership, the FCC recently issued a 
ruling that adopted common-sense guidelines that reduce the time and 
cost of deploying next generation wireless infrastructure while 
accounting for legitimate local interests. This ruling built on the 
momentum established over the past few years in numerous states and 
communities to reform infrastructure siting policies. In terms of 
spectrum policy, the FCC has moved fast to open up more spectrum in 
frequency bands that have not traditionally been used for cellular 
communications but are critical for 5G.
    But FCC and state action is not enough. We need help from Congress, 
too, and that effort has been led by Chairman Thune, who, together with 
Senator Brian Schatz, introduced the ``Streamline Small Cell Deployment 
Act'' to help promote the deployment of small cell equipment. This 
bipartisan legislation is an important and thoughtful kickoff to a 
conversation about how best to modernize small cell deployment policy. 
The Streamline Act would add significant provisions to the national 
policy framework that the FCC's recent decision just could not cover. 
As just one example, the Streamline Act would provide that small cell 
applications are ``deemed granted'' at the end of the allowed timetable 
for state and municipal authorities to act on an application. The FCC 
found that the remedy for inaction on an application is in the judicial 
system, and decided not to apply a ``deemed granted'' remedy, though it 
provided substantial guidance that should expedite judicial review. 
However, even expedited judicial review involves delay and uncertainly, 
so a ``deemed granted'' remedy is a critical component to promote 
investment.
    In addition, while the FCC correctly noted that state and local 
governments are entitled to recover all reasonable costs related to the 
building of small cell antennas, this provision of the FCC's new rules 
is opposed by some jurisdictions and likely will be challenged in 
court. Codifying the cost-based fee standard--as the Streamline Act 
would do--provides additional certainty and legitimacy behind this 
important principle, which simply ensures that states and localities 
have the ability to recover their costs, but not to tax infrastructure 
investment for additional revenues and for spending on unrelated 
purposes.
    Chairman Thune also has led the way on ensuring access to critical 
``mid-band'' spectrum, which is a crucial component of 5G deployment. 
Mid-band spectrum provides a good mix of coverage and capacity and is 
essential for a broad, nationwide roll-out of 5G technologies. And 
there are other bipartisan efforts underway to ensure adequate spectrum 
resources. Of particular note is the Airwaves Act, which would help to 
create a spectrum pipeline, encourage rural wireless deployment, and 
reallocate underused spectrum. The Airwaves Act will help to encourage 
rural wireless investment by setting aside 10 percent of proceeds from 
the spectrum auctions required by the Act to deploy wireless in 
underserved, often rural areas. The Act also requires the FCC to study 
the impact of unlicensed spectrum on rural healthcare, education, 
agriculture, and broadband access. In addition, FCC Commissioner 
O'Rielly recently outlined a plan for moving forward on 3.5 GHz 
spectrum to be considered at the FCC's October meeting. We encourage 
the FCC to ensure the 3.5 GHz band plays a critical role in delivering 
5G services to American consumers.
    Verizon has always worked with policymakers at all levels to ensure 
that the building of our country's biggest and best network is 
accomplished with the cooperation and support of our government 
partners. While there are some municipalities that have expressed 
concerns about having a standardized framework governing antenna 
siting, I can assure you that Verizon believes that dialogue and 
compromises between providers and localities are more important than 
ever. Under the FCC's new rules and the provisions of the Streamline 
Act, there is still a great deal of leeway and oversight for localities 
to manage their rights of way. It will be most productive if providers 
work together with localities on comprehensive plans for small cell 
deployment. Verizon remains committed to that goal.
Conclusion
    To sum up: the U.S. needs to win the race to 5G, and while Verizon 
is investing and innovating to help get us there, it is critical for 
the federal, state, and local governments to all be rowing in the same 
direction to get to the right policy framework. With the leadership of 
Chairman Thune and Commissioner Carr, and many other policymakers, we 
are making great progress, and I have high hopes that the U.S. will 
lead the world on 5G network deployment.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Fisher.
    Mr. Fisher. Oh, yes, sure. Here's a--I won't say what 
company it is, but it's a----
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Fisher.--it's a sample of a 5G small cell. This is 
approximately the size of things that we're looking at 
deploying in places all around the United States.
    The Chairman. Compared to fourth generation technology, 
which is much larger.
    Mr. Fisher. Much larger. 200-foot macro cells, yes.
    The Chairman. So that's the next generation, and what 
cities like Sioux Falls and other cities around the country 
will need to deploy to benefit from this.
    So thank you, sir, for being here and for your comments.
    Mr. Fisher. Thank you.
    The Chairman. Next up is Mr. Justin Forde, who is the 
Senior Director of Government Relations for Midcontinent 
Communications, which has a big footprint here in South Dakota 
and all across this region of the country.
    So thank you and look forward to hearing from you.

          STATEMENT OF JUSTIN FORDE, SENIOR DIRECTOR,

                     GOVERNMENT RELATIONS,

                  MIDCONTINENT COMMUNICATIONS

    Mr. Forde. Thank you. There's a lot of talk about how to 
address the digital divide in rural America, but at Midco, we 
are currently solving and closing the digital divide through 
our fiber and fixed wireless broadband solutions. And 5G 
technology will continue to expand Midco's opportunities to 
provide more fiber and fixed wireless here in South Dakota and 
across our footprint.
    Chairman Thune, thank you again for inviting me here today 
to discuss Midco's view on 5G from the field in the Upper 
Midwest.
    Midco is the leading provider of Internet, networking, 
cable TV, phone, data center, home security, and advertising 
services in the Upper Midwest. We serve more than 400,000 
residential and business customers in South Dakota, North 
Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, and Wisconsin, and communities 
ranging in size from less than 100 people to more than 180,000.
    Midco has almost 10,000 miles of fiber, and in 2017, we 
launched our Midco Gig Initiative, a commitment to bring 
gigabit Internet speeds to our entire service area. To date, we 
have invested over $56 million in our Gig Initiative, and 
that's over and above the millions of dollars we invest in our 
network annually. Today, Midco Gig is available to more than 80 
percent of our customers, and it's affordable and accessible at 
every address here in Sioux Falls and communities large and 
small with more to come in 2018.
    We also recognize that fiber is not the only solution to 
solve the digital divide. Many of our most rural and remote 
residents do not have access to broadband or have access to 
speeds that are so slow that the service is essentially 
nonexistent. This digital divide is devastating to our friends 
and rural residents and businesses and in smart agriculture. So 
in 2018, Midco acquired InvisiMax, and we have begun to expand 
broadband wireless service more broadly in most rural areas 
within our footprint. Fixed wireless allows us to reach rural 
areas that are up to 50 miles away from our fiber network.
    I myself am a Midco fixed wireless customer. I get my 
Internet from the top of a grain elevator 8 miles away to my 
small farmstead. On a normal day, my three kids are streaming 
video, and my wife is using that Internet to run a small 
business. The service has been a great asset to our family.
    My fixed wireless broadband ultimately connects to Midco's 
fiber backbone, and fiber will continue to be the backbone of 
any connectivity solution, including small cell 5G technology 
for urban areas like Sioux Falls or Fargo. And given our deep 
fiber network, we are able to partner with the mobile carriers 
to provide the necessary connectivity link from small cell 
towers to the Internet.
    The discussion about emerging small cell technology for 
urban areas is continuing to gain momentum, and Midco is here 
to support mobile carriers by providing that connectivity. 
Small cell will create deeper fiber penetration in our 
communities, and we are excited for that possibility.
    Small cell technology, however, is not the likely solution 
to close the digital divide due to the density of towers 
needed. For example, we estimate that 350 small cell towers 
would be needed to provide 5G service to Sioux Falls with an 
area of only 74 square miles. While technology requires end 
users to be in such close proximity to a tower as a possibility 
in our more urban areas, it is not realistic in some of our 
more rural areas. But fixed wireless has been, and will 
continue to be, a solution. Instead of hundreds of feet between 
a tower and a consumer, our fixed wireless network can beam 
speeds, high-speed broadband, 5 to 28 miles between a tower and 
consumer.
    Midco currently provides fixed wireless broadband to large 
portions of the Red River Valley, with approximately 14,000 
square miles using 140 cell towers, water towers, and grain 
elevators. Fixed wireless is closing the digital divide today.
    As Congress and the FCC continue to support emerging 5G 
technology, we, at Midco, are excited for the possibilities 
that that next generation of technology spectrum will bring for 
our fixed wireless network.
    In the race to 5G, Midco has two suggestions for Congress 
and the FCC to ensure that 5G discussions include opportunities 
for rural America.
    First is Congress and the FCC work to free up additional 
spectrum and drive the use of that spectrum in rural America. 
It's vital that fixed wireless providers, like Midco, have both 
access to the spectrum and the financial ability to purchase 
licensed spectrum. As more spectrum is made available, we ask 
that the rules regarding spectrum also consider the technology 
needs for fixed wireless, such as higher power allowances. 
Large rural providers that desire to purchase licensed spectrum 
should have the ability to compete with large mobile carriers 
in spectrum auctions. To that end, the FCC and Congress should 
revise the rural bidding credits to allow larger rural 
companies, like Midco, to take advantage of such credits to 
build out their networks.
    Second, it is vital that fixed wireless providers have 
access to new laws and to advancing small cell technology so we 
can also benefit from those reduced regulations. This 
Committee's STREAMLINE Act contains similar provisions to the 
FCC's recent ruling on small cells, and we encourage lawmakers 
to continue considering fixed wireless when revising rules at 
the request of small cell operators.
    Chairman Thune, thank you again for inviting me here today. 
And we look forward to working with you all to continue 
advancing 5G technology while also closing the digital divide.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Forde follows:]

         Prepared Statement of Justin Forde, Senior Director, 
           Government Relations, Midcontinent Communications
    Chairman Thune and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting 
me here today to discuss Midco's view from the field on the impact of 
5G in our footprint. We at Midco have developed innovative approaches 
to help us get high speed and reliable broadband to all of our 
customers, and I'm excited to share them with you today and our 
thoughts on the impact of mobile 5G technology.
    My name is Justin Forde, and I am the Senior Director of Government 
Relations for Midcontinent Communications (``Midco''). Midco is the 
leading provider of Internet and connectivity, cable TV, phone, data 
center, home security and advertising services in the Upper Midwest. We 
also operate a regional sports network, Midco Sports Network, which 
broadcasts live, local high school and regional college sports.
    Over 400,000 residential and business customers count on Midco 
services in 342 communities in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, 
Kansas, and Wisconsin. Midco community populations range from less than 
100 in places like Dodge, North Dakota, to our largest community, Sioux 
Falls, South Dakota, which has a population of approximately 180,000.
    Innovation and foresight have shaped Midco's course for more than 
85 years. In particular, we have made it our mission to ensure that our 
most rural communities are at the leading edge of technology. Our goal 
throughout our footprint is to continue to find ways not only to meet, 
but to exceed, the communications needs of our customers.
Midco's History of Innovation
    Midco has a history of innovation in the Upper Midwest. Founded in 
1931, Midco began by operating movie theatres, with a vision of always 
staying one-step ahead of ever-changing technology. Midco then entered 
the radio business, and in 1954, became the owners of the first 
television station in South Dakota. We continued to innovate with the 
introduction of cable television and phone service, and on April 15, 
1996, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, launched our broadband Internet 
service, which today is the largest portion of our business.
    Our commitment to innovation continues to motivate our business 
initiatives today. We own and operate four data centers in North Dakota 
and South Dakota to give local businesses a cost-effective way to 
secure critical data and their IT infrastructure. We provide solutions 
for regional and national banking, healthcare, energy, and government 
customers, among many other industries. We combine our data center 
services with powerful network solutions through our wholly-owned, 
operated and engineered Midco fiber network. Our data centers are 
directly connected to our fiber backbone, giving businesses access to 
some of the fastest Internet speeds in the country.
    In 2017, we launched the Midco Gig Initiative--a commitment to 
bring Gigabit Internet speeds to our entire service area--from the 
region's smallest towns to its largest cities. Today, Midco Gig is now 
available to more than 80 percent of our customers--with more 
communities to come in 2018--while the rest of our customers have a 
choice to receive speeds anywhere from 50 Mbps to 250 Mbps. It is 
important to remember that the majority of the communities we serve are 
very rural -nearly all of the 342 communities we serve have less than 
50,000 people, with most having a population closer to 500 than to 
5,000.
    To date, we have invested over $56 million to upgrade our network 
to deliver Gigabit speeds to some of the most rural areas in America--
in addition to the millions of dollars we invest in our network 
annually. In 2017 alone, we invested more than $125 million in capital 
projects in our service area.
    Our continuing investment and almost 10,000 miles of fiber also 
serve as the connectivity source for mobile operators to connect their 
mobile customers to the internet. As mobile carriers advance their 5G 
initiative, local fiber and cable companies, like Midco, will continue 
to be an indispensable partner to connect consumers from small cell 
towers to the Internet.
    Midco's innovation and continuing capital investment in our fiber 
stems from our desire to serve the communities where we live and raise 
our families. While the national push for 5G technology may yield a 
benefit to urban areas within our footprint, such as Sioux Falls or 
Rapid City, fiber and fixed wireless companies will continue to be the 
primary source of broadband in the more rural and remote areas. For 
example, last year, we extended our fiber-optic network to Littlefork, 
Canby, Porter, Tauton, Minneota and Ghent, Minnesota--six small 
communities that now have access to Midco's fiber network, Gig speeds, 
and our data centers. Not only do we invest in our fiber and fixed 
wireless infrastructures, but we are also a Midwestern company and are 
deeply committed to giving back to the communities we serve. To date, 
the Midco Foundation has contributed more than $3.8 million in grants 
to the work of non-profits, local governments, and schools.
Midco's Innovative Use of Fixed Wireless to Reach More Communities with 
        Broadband
    While extending the Midco network and bringing our service to rural 
communities has always been part of Midco's culture and priorities, 
there are still folks out there who lack access to our network, or to 
any reliable and affordable Internet source. There are challenges and 
high costs associated with building fiber in many communities in our 
area, due to difficult terrain or sparse population in the vast 
farmland of the Upper Midwest.
    Fixed wireless services can be part of the solution for rural 
America. In March of 2018, we acquired InvisiMax, Inc., a fixed 
wireless company operating in the Red River Valley with more than 10 
years of innovative spectrum use.
    I can personally speak to the benefits of the fixed wireless 
approach, as I myself am a Midco fixed wireless customer. I get my 
Internet from the top of the grain elevator in Prosper, North Dakota to 
my small farmstead six miles west of Argusville, North Dakota. On a 
normal day, my three kids are streaming video or other content, while 
my wife is using the Internet to run a small business, so this service 
has been a great asset for our family.
    Our extensive fiber network is the connectivity backbone for our 
fixed wireless business and other fixed wireless businesses through 
bandwidth wholesale agreements. We use our fiber network as the 
backbone and edge out our broadband services by using fixed wireless to 
reach more remote locations.
    A fixed wireless option is a huge benefit to our friends and 
neighbors who are not on Midco's wired network. Fixed wireless allows 
us to reach remote, rural areas that are up to 50 miles away from our 
fiber network, and we can implement this solution relatively quickly 
and without the effort or expense of constructing fiber networks. We 
can also deploy new fixed wireless networks during the winter months, 
when harsh weather makes fiber construction impossible.
    Through innovative spectrum use, Midco is currently testing 
residential fixed wireless speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps 
upload using our 3.65 GHz nationwide non-exclusive and 3.5 GHz Citizens 
Broadband Radio Service band licenses. Once Midco is able to access 
spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band, we can offer 100/20 speeds more widely in 
our fixed wireless footprint.
    Midco's fixed wireless innovation extends to the millimeter wave, 
where we are beginning testing. Using shorter distances from towers to 
consumers, we can use the 70 and 80 GHz bands for our point-to-point 
connections and the 50 and 60 GHz bands for our point-to-multipoint 
connections. A new meshing technology will increase redundancy and 
reliability, and we will be testing Gigabit fixed wireless services. 
Millimeter wave technology can be an additional tool in the toolbox to 
offer high-speed and reliable broadband to rural America.
How Congress Can Support Broadband Deployment in Rural America
    Midco supports your efforts to ensure all Americans have access to 
broadband services, and we have invested many millions of dollars to 
help make that goal a reality. We greatly appreciate the bipartisan 
commitment of this Committee to produce bills that include and reflect 
the key components of a broadband deployment-friendly atmosphere--
prioritizing unserved areas, instituting competitive principles for 
awarding broadband dollars, and embracing technological neutrality. 
Your efforts in the RAY BAUM'S Act and MOBILE NOW Act to include 
broadband deployment provisions like the Dig Once policy and a spectrum 
policy balancing licensed and unlicensed uses, and your thoughtful 
consideration of the ACCESS Broadband Act, have contributed to an 
environment in which we are able to more easily invest, expand, and 
deploy. This Committee is leading the way in Congressional efforts to 
close the Digital Divide and should be commended for its efforts.
    Midco also respects your efforts to identify barriers to broadband 
deployment, including in the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act, 
introduced by Chairman Thune and Senator Schatz. As broadband providers 
develop new ways to deliver connectivity to their customers, it is 
appropriate to examine the regulatory landscape to ensure that 
obligations placed on providers--whether they offer wireless or 
wireline service--are reasonable, lawful, competitively neutral, and 
not unduly burdensome, while respecting legitimate interests of local 
communities. Fortunately, given Midco's deep connections to the 
communities we serve, we have been able to work effectively and 
collaboratively with the great majority of our local officials to 
advance our shared interest in extending the benefits of broadband to 
our customers.
    We recognize that there is a great deal of interest these days in 
5G, which is expected to enhance competition in cities like Sioux Falls 
and Rapid City. Like other fiber and cable providers, given our deep 
fiber network and partnership with municipalities across our footprint, 
we are able to partner with these mobile carriers to provide the 
necessary connectivity link from their small cell towers to the 
Internet.
    In the race to 5G, which will benefit more highly populated areas 
with dense networks, Midco hopes that Congress and the Federal 
Communications Commission (``FCC'') will not neglect rural America. 
Therefore, today, I would like to offer three suggestions for how you 
might help us further advance rural broadband.
    First, as Congress and the FCC work to free up additional spectrum, 
it is vital that companies like Midco that provide high-speed and 
reliable broadband to the most rural areas of our country have equal 
access to spectrum.
    It would be detrimental to rural America if valuable and limited 
spectrum was allocated only to 5G, especially as 5G requires a high 
concentration of small cells to operate. Using current mobile 5G 
technology, it would take an estimated 350 small cell towers to provide 
5G to Sioux Falls, with a square footage of only 74 miles. While 
technology that requires end users to be in such close proximity to a 
tower is a possibility in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and other urban 
areas, mobile 5G it is not currently a realistic solution to close the 
Digital Divide in rural areas.
    But fixed wireless has been and will continue to be a solution. 
South Dakota is the fourth least densely populated state in the 
country, with about 11 people per square mile; and we all know that 
there is far less population density in our rural and farming 
communities. Instead of hundreds of feet between a tower and a 
consumer, our fixed wireless system can beam high-speed broadband 5-28 
miles between a tower and a consumer. For example, Midco currently 
provides fixed wireless broadband to large portions of the Red River 
Valley with a square footage of approximately 14,000 miles using 140 
cell towers, water towers and grain elevators. This partnership of 
fiber and fixed wireless is a viable, and long-term, solution to 
closing the Digital Divide.
    On behalf of our friends and neighbors who still lack access to 
broadband, we ask that Congress and the FCC allow fixed wireless 
providers like Midco to have equal access to spectrum as that valuable 
resource is freed up for commercial use. We know from field testing 
that the 3.5 GHz band is key spectrum for us to provide speeds of 100/
20 and higher to homes that are over 8 miles away from the tower. The 
FCC is currently changing the rules for the 3.5 GHz band. However, 
under those rules, after 2020, we will lose our interference protection 
in the 3.65 GHz band, and we will then need to either use general 
authorized access spectrum, in which case our operations would not be 
entitled to interference protection, or bid on priority access licenses 
in the 3550-3650 MHz range that will be auctioned. Moreover, only 70 
MHz of spectrum will be auctioned, and there is no guarantee Midco will 
be able to gain access to that spectrum.
    In addition, the FCC's priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz 
range will only be truly effective in helping rural areas if they are 
offered in small enough geographic areas that companies like Midco that 
want to provide broadband via fixed wireless in rural markets can 
compete for their purchase. Midco supports the FCC's adoption of 
county-sized priority access licenses in the draft order released last 
week. County-sized licenses strike the right balance to enable auction 
participation by new entrants, including rural providers, and Midco 
urges the FCC to adopt this aspect of the order at its October open 
meeting. Midco also encourages the FCC to expand its definition of 
rural provider for rural bidding credits to be any provider with 
250,000 broadband subscribers or less in each state in which the 
provider seeks a priority access license for the 3.5 GHz band. By 
measuring and limiting the number of broadband subscribers on a state-
by-state basis, mid-sized regional companies that focus their service 
on rural communities can benefit from the rural bidding credits and the 
FCC's ultimate purpose for the credits remains intact. Given the push 
for 5G and need for spectrum for mobile carriers, robust rural bidding 
credits would allow long-standing rural community providers like Midco 
to have the ability to compete for priority access licenses.
    Beyond the 3.5 GHz band, the FCC is also considering how to more 
effectively use the 2.5 GHz, or Educational Broadband Spectrum, band. 
The licensed spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band is attractive because the 
propagation characteristics and high power allowance allows the 
broadband signal to penetrate through multiple shelter belts and 
forests to provide broadband and an Internet solution for precision 
agriculture and cutting-edge farm technology. Currently, however, the 
2.5 GHz band can only be licensed to educational institutions or other 
entities dedicated to educational purposes, who may then lease the 
spectrum to others. This is true even though much of the spectrum 
remains unused. Indeed, the FCC estimates that current licensees only 
cover about half of the geographic area of the United States today, 
with significant amounts of spectrum going unused in rural areas. 
Opening the 2.5 GHz band for licensing by other, non-educational 
entities would allow Midco to provide fixed wireless service to even 
more rural residents.
    Specifically, we encourage the FCC to open as much of the 2.5 GHz 
band for commercial auction as possible by doing the following: 
rationalizing the current, 35-mile wide circular licensees (Government 
Service Area or GSA) to county-sized licenses if the GSA covers at 
least 75 percent of the county's geography; instituting the performance 
requirements contemplated by the FCC in its May 10, 2018 Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking;\1\ auctioning all remaining 2.5 GHz whitespace in 
county-sized licenses through a competitive auction with a defined 
channel plan and a limit on the amount of spectrum that one competitor 
could acquire;\2\ and creating robust rural bidding credits as 
suggested by Midco in the 3.5 GHz band.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ ``For mobile and fixed point-to-multipoint services, we propose 
an interim benchmark of 50 percent population coverage and a final 
benchmark of 80 percent population coverage. . .For educational 
broadcast services, we seek comment on an interim benchmark of 50 
percent population coverage and a final benchmark of 80 percent 
population coverage.'' Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, WT Docket No. 18-
120 (May 10, 2018) at  54.
    \2\ ``Midco also discussed and endorsed the channel plan and 
associated spectrum limitation of no more than 63 MHz advanced . . . 
specifically: A1-A3 and B1-B3--33 MHz of contiguous spectrum in lower 
band segment; C1-C3 and D1-D3--33 MHz of contiguous spectrum in lower 
band segment; A4, B4, C4, D4, and G4--30 MHz of contiguous spectrum in 
middle band segment; and G1-G3--16.5 MHz of contiguous spectrum in 
upper band segment[.]'' Midco Ex Parte to Wireless Telecommunications 
Bureau, WT Docket No. 18-120 (Sept. 26, 2018) at 1-2 (adopting the 
proposal from the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    It is important that rural Americans have access to broadband of a 
sufficient speed, so that they can stream video on multiple devices, 
attend webinars and virtual meetings, operate a home security system, 
and, importantly in Midco's service areas, use the Internet for a 
variety of precision agriculture needs. We need access to more spectrum 
so that our customers can engage in all of these activities.
    Second, we recognize that government help may be needed to bring 
broadband to areas that are beyond the reach of private risk capital. 
In areas where it is not financially viable to build--because they are 
too difficult to reach, geographically remote, or are otherwise very 
hard to serve--broadband deployment grants can alter the financial 
calculation, making serving an area possible. It is critical, however, 
that such help and government resources used for this purpose are 
directed to bring service only to areas that are truly unserved and not 
to overbuild existing networks.
    In the past, some government broadband funding programs have 
allowed funding to be used in places that already have broadband 
service. Midco has been overbuilt with our own tax dollars in places 
like Mitchell and Yankton, South Dakota, as have others in our region. 
In Yankton, South Dakota, for example, government dollars were used by 
a fiber company to overbuild two existing providers; and the new 
provider used those government funds to ``cherry pick'' a few business 
customers. We believe that scarce government resources should be 
targeted to those who will build out areas that do not yet have any 
access to broadband.
    We were a participant in the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction 
hosted by the FCC this year. This was a competitive, reverse auction, 
and we believe a fair and economical method to fund those last mile 
technologies. Midco was awarded approximately $38.9 million in the 
auction, and we will use the proceeds to extend our fiber and fixed 
wireless services deeper into rural areas in our service area. We were 
also encouraged to see that the pilot broadband funding program in the 
Omnibus Appropriations Act directed that funds be used in areas that 
are at least 90 percent unserved, and that the Senate Farm Bill 
similarly limits funding to areas that are at least 90 percent 
unserved. These approaches, implemented in a technology-neutral manner 
and with appropriate guardrails to ensure areas targeted are truly 
unserved, can complement the work of this Committee to make a 
meaningful impact in reducing the number of Americans lacking broadband 
access.
    Third, it is vital that fixed wireless--a service squarely aimed at 
rural areas--has access to new laws and orders designed to advance 5G 
technology, as fixed wireless, not mobile 5G, is the solution here and 
now to solve the Digital Divide. We were encouraged, therefore, to see 
the definition of ``Small Wireless Facilities'' in the FCC's recent 
Declaratory Ruling and Third Report & Order on Small Cells as being 
structures that are 50 feet or less in height with antennas no more 
than three cubic feet in volume. This Committee's STREAMLINE Act 
contains similar provisions, and we encourage this Committee, Congress, 
and the FCC to not neglect fixed wireless in revising rules and 
regulations at the request of 5G operators. We ask only for equal 
access to benefit from new laws and regulations.
    I commend the Committee for its focus on ensuring that all 
Americans--including those in rural America--receive the full potential 
of America's broadband networks. Thank you again for inviting me here 
today, and we look forward to working with all of you on these 
important issues.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Forde. We appreciate you being 
here and look forward to have the opportunity to ask some 
questions about the things that your company is involved with 
here in South Dakota and across the region as well.
    Mr. Forde. Thank you.
    The Chairman. So last up is Mr. Mark Shlanta, who is the 
Chief Executive Officer of SDN Communications here in South 
Dakota. He has been at this for a long time, and has a lot of 
perspective and background I think that can be very useful as 
we head into this new frontier.
    So, Mark, welcome. It's good to have you here.

    STATEMENT OF MARK SHLANTA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SDN 
                         COMMUNICATIONS

    Mr. Shlanta. Chairman Thune, thank you. And thank you for 
inviting SDN to participate in today's hearing.
    The prospect of 5G in South Dakota excites me. South Dakota 
has long been at the leading edge of broadband, especially in 
rural markets, thanks to the progressive approach of SDN's 
owner companies, the independent telephone companies of South 
Dakota. Our companies cover 80 percent of South Dakota's 
geography, and they aggressively combat the digital divide. In 
fact, SDN and the South Dakota Telecommunications Association 
recently commissioned a broadband benchmark report.
    Three things I wanted to highlight. First, 65 percent of 
the SDTA members, their customers are connected by fiber. 76 
percent of their customers have high-speed broadband speeds 
that meet or exceed the FCC's broadband definition. And third, 
in the 5 years from 2013 to 2017, our members have invested 
over $400 million in networks that now total 45,000 miles of 
fiber in South Dakota. That's enough to circle--enough fiber to 
circle the Earth twice.
    This leads me to my primary point: small cells and five 
generation networks, fifth generation networks. In the end, 
it's still all about the wires, that I will refer to as the 6G 
fiber optic networks that support such advances.
    When I use my smartphone to send a message to my mother 
across town or to my sister, who lives in South Korea, nearly 
all of that communication will travel through the fiber in the 
ground or under the ocean. It's only the very last part of the 
connection, from the handset to the tower, that is wireless. 
Today's 4G and tomorrow's 5G wireless do not exist without the 
6G fiber that empowers them.
    SDN has extensive experience in the field. We partner with 
all the wireless providers in the region to provide backhaul 
from the towers and fronthaul to the small cells.
    SDN played a key role in deploying some of the first small 
cells in the region. We helped deploy dozens of small cells in 
places like Aberdeen, Brookings, Sioux Falls, Sioux City, 
Sturgis, and Yankton. One of the best examples is the new SDSU 
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, which holds 19,000 
people. Even a--even a few thousand fans had previously 
overloaded the mobile data capacity, making it impossible to 
text and pull up a web page or post to social media. That could 
paralyze a university and drive away fans, especially younger 
ones. SDN worked with a wireless carrier to secure locations, 
permit, and construct the poles. Fans now have a better digital 
experience there.
    More importantly, these and other small cells will play a 
role in public safety. These small cells represent the 
precursor to 5G. We will need many of these to make 5G work, 
and all of them will have to connect to our 6G fiber.
    Chairman Thune and Commissioner Carr, I want to thank you 
for the lighter regulatory touches that you've allowed, 
especially the shot clocks encouraging local governments to 
act. In the past, it could take months, and in some cases, the 
regulatory and siting expenses exceeded $25,000 per pole. This 
did not include the monthly fees to cities, campuses, and other 
property owners.
    I encourage continued streamlining; however, I also believe 
the Federal and State governments should find a balance for 
local control. We work cooperatively with the governments in 
Aberdeen, Brookings, and Sioux Falls to make positive local 
ordinance changes. I am pleased to say the South Dakota 
Municipal League is aggressively working to create model 
ordinances for cities large and small to attract 5G services to 
South Dakota.
    An additional reminder, network security is critical as we 
advance faster wireless services. 5G will expand the Internet 
of Things and the IoT devices we all use, but network security 
should not be overlooked. Our state's academic resources can 
assist to discover vulnerabilities and develop security 
measures.
    In conclusion, our fiber assets run deep into the rural 
landscape, and our early experience in small cells, along with 
the combination of local--local governments ready to embrace 
5G, not to mention Dakota State University's technical 
expertise, make South Dakota the perfect test site for 
everything from driverless vehicles to wearable devices, which 
are the applications of 5G. All of it will improve rural 
quality of life and offer our strikingly independent South 
Dakotans the opportunity to live, work, and create wherever 
they please. The diverse weather, culture, and geographic 
conditions will offer the best test of 5G and leverage the 
promise of our 6G fiber optic services.
    Thank you, Chairman Thune.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Shlanta follows:]

    Summary of Testimony of Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer, 
                           SDN Communications
    SDN Communications (``SDN'') is a leading provider of Internet and 
other networking services in the Upper Midwest. SDN is owned by 17 
ILECs in South Dakota and works with dozens of additional ILECs, which 
collectively serve over 200,000 residential and business customers in 
over 400 communities in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. SDN has a 
history of centralizing services for ILECs and supporting complex 
solutions for large enterprise customers.
    Nearly a decade ago, SDN's members started delivering fiber to the 
premise and, in doing so, moved into the Gig era. SDN's Members have 
invested nearly $500 million into the fiber projects since 2013. That 
includes 2018's investment of $100 million in fiber and other capital 
projects by SDN and the ILECs that own SDN. These efforts have also 
included expanding service into unserved and underserved communities. 
There are challenges and high costs associated with building fiber in 
some rural communities. However, the schools, clinics, businesses, and 
consumers all benefit when our 6G fiber optic networks are deployed at 
the core of the broadband infrastructure.
    SDN supports the efforts of the wireless carriers, local 
governments, and the FCC to bring next generation 5G wireless services 
to the population centers. Larger communities in South Dakota can be 
outstanding test beds as this technology develops. Consumers will 
benefit from the enhanced access to faster wireless services and 
computing power being deployed to support new applications in the 
Internet of Things (IOT) era. Network security will play an ever-
increasing role for consumers and SDN encourages all governments to 
encourage the development and deployment of secure network assets and 
services during the growth and deployment of the new 5G wireless 
networks.
                                 ______
                                 
     Prepared Statement of Mark Shlanta, Chief Executive Officer, 
                           SDN Communications
    Thank you, Chairman Thune, for inviting SDN to participate in 
today's hearing.
    The prospect of 5G in South Dakota excites me. We have long been 
the leading edge of broadband, especially in rural markets, thanks to 
the progressive approach of SDN's owner companies, the independent 
telephone companies of South Dakota.
    Our companies cover 80 percent of South Dakota's geography, and 
we're not talking about the population centers. Yet they aggressively 
combat the digital divide. In fact, SDN and the South Dakota 
Telecommunications Association recently commissioned a benchmark 
report. Three things to highlight:

  1.  65 percent of SDTA Members' customers are connected by fiber.

  2.  76 percent of them have high-speed broadband that meets or 
        exceeds the FCC's broadband definition.

  3.  In the five years from 2013 to 2017, our members have invested 
        $400 million in networks that now total 45,000 miles of fiber 
        in South Dakota--enough fiber to circle Earth twice!

    That leads me to my primary point: Small cells or 5G--it's still 
all about the wires and what I refer to as the 6G fiber optic networks 
that support such advances.
    If I'm going to use my smart phone to send a message to my mother 
across town or my sister, who lives in South Korea, nearly all that 
communication will travel fiber in the ground or under the ocean; it's 
only the very last part of the connection--from the handset to the 
tower--that is wireless. Today's 4G and tomorrow's 5G wireless do not 
exist without the 6G fiber that empowers them.
    SDN has extensive experience in this field. We partner with all the 
wireless providers here to provide backhaul from the towers and 
fronthaul to the small cells. SDN played a key role in deploying some 
of the first small cells in the region. We helped deploy dozens of 
small cells in places like Aberdeen, Brookings, Sioux City, Sioux 
Falls, Sturgis and Yankton.
    One of best examples is the new SDSU Dana J Dykhouse Stadium in 
Brookings, which holds 19,000 people. Even a few thousand fans 
overloaded the mobile data capacity making it impossible to text, pull 
up a web page, or post to social media. That paralyzes a university and 
drives away fans, especially younger ones.

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    SDN worked with a wireless carrier to secure locations, permit and 
construct the poles. Fans now have a better digital experience there. 
More importantly, these and other small cells will play a role in 
public safety.

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    These small cells represent the pre-cursor to 5G. We will need many 
of these to make 5G work. And all of them will have to connect to our 
6G fiber.

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    I want to thank you for a lighter regulatory touch, especially shot 
clocks encouraging local governments to act. In the past, it could take 
months, and in some cases, the regulatory expenses exceeded $25,000 per 
pole. That does not include the monthly fees to cities, campuses or 
other property owners.
    I encourage continued streamlining. However, I also believe the 
Federal and state governments should find balance for local control.
    We worked cooperatively with governments in Aberdeen, Brookings, 
and Sioux Falls to make positive local ordinance changes. I'm pleased 
to say South Dakota Municipal League is aggressively working to create 
model ordinances for cities, large and small, to attract 5G services to 
South Dakota.
    One reminder: network security is critical as we advance faster 
wireless services. 5G will expand the Internet of Things and the IOT 
devices we will all use, but network security should not be overlooked. 
Our state's academic resources can assist to discovery vulnerabilities 
and develop security measures.
    In conclusion, our fiber assets run deep into the rural landscape 
and our early experience in small cells, along with the combination of 
local governments ready to embrace 5G not to mention Dakota State 
University's technical expertise, make South Dakota the perfect test 
site for everything from driverless vehicles to wearable devices--the 
applications of 5G. All of it will improve rural quality of life and 
offer our strikingly independent South Dakotans the opportunity to 
live, work, and create wherever they please. The diverse weather, 
culture, and geographic conditions will offer the best test of 5G and 
leverage the promise of our 6G fiber optic network services.
    Thank you.

    The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Shlanta.
    Let me just follow up with you while it's fresh in my mind 
here, but with the passage of the MOBILE NOW Act, we did make a 
downpayment on the spectrum and infrastructure needs to secure 
American leadership in 5G, and the STREAMLINE Small Cell 
Deployment Act represents sort of the next step on that 
infrastructure list. We recently held a hearing focused on 
ensuring that we have the additional spectrum necessary for 5G.
    From your perspective, as a provider of services to 
wireless carriers, what else should we be doing to support the 
deployment of 5G, particularly in states like South Dakota?
    Mr. Shlanta. Thank you. You know, states like South Dakota 
in the--I'll say in the urban centers, you know, we all have 
reasonable fiber optic networks to help with the deployment. 
Coordination at the local effort in terms of working with the 
local governments for placement of fiber optic facilities will 
be key. But in the rural markets, if 5G were to ever long term 
extend into those rural markets, we must maintain I'll say the 
support aspects of developing more fiber optic networks across 
the rural networks. The cost to deploy a rural network far 
exceed the cost per mile to--and the cost per customer to 
support--that is used to support an urban customer. So I would 
just make sure the Federal Government doesn't overlook the 
needs of rural as we deploy 5G across the urban environments 
and extend those into the neighboring rural environments.
    The Chairman. In your experience, do you think that the 
siting policies for small cells should be different than 
policies for larger sort of macro towers, like what we see 
today?
    Mr. Shlanta. Well, I do because they are far less 
intrusive. I think some of the pictures that were showing 
during my testimony, you know, indicate they are really similar 
to a municipal light pole, and I know that's many of the 
collocation efforts that the wireless carriers are looking to 
work with the communities on, is to collocate on those types of 
infrastructure.
    The early poles that we deployed largely were a standalone 
facility, and those could be used in places where maybe a light 
pole or just the traffic volumes really wouldn't allow us to 
get that type of infrastructure close to the communications or 
to the transportation systems, but they have that separate 
facility. So a lighter touch on those smaller facilities is 
important.
    The Chairman. Yes. Thanks.
    Mr. Forde, Midco has been particularly resourceful in 
deploying both fixed and wireless services to the people of 
South Dakota; for example, as you point out, deploying antennas 
on grain silos to provide wireless broadband. Could you discuss 
maybe how Midco has overcome some of the challenges to 
deployment in rural areas and some of the lessons that you have 
learned?
    Mr. Forde. Absolutely, yes. Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman. And we were also lucky to have Chairman Carr with us 
earlier this week as we climbed some elevators across the 
footprint. So it was very exciting to be up there.
    Obviously, when you look at, you know, deploying those 
networks, as Mr. Shlanta said, that cost can be very high. And 
when you look at our highly rural areas, and obviously as the 
temperatures dip, there's only a limited amount of time when 
you can deploy some of those--those fiber networks. The fixed 
wireless solution, the speed, reliability, and throughput, that 
has continued to improve with the improvement of technology. So 
deploying that fixed wireless from our rich, you know, fiber 
networks in the cities that we do serve really allows us to 
reach those rural farmsteads and allows us to reach that 25 to 
30 miles around there for precision ag, all those tough-to-
reach places.
    Also, we have a very diverse geography here in our state 
and across the region, whether it's badlands, granite cliffs, 
you know, lakes, you just can't get the fiber through that. So 
this is a really unique way to continue to close the digital 
divide and reach those hard-to-reach areas. And it can be 
deployed relatively quickly. I mean, you can call and just 
within a few hours in some of those rural areas we can have 
that technology out to you at very high speeds.
    The Chairman. You talked about the need for spectrum being 
available to fixed--people who are providing fixed wireless 
services, too. So what else do you think we could be doing to 
make it easier for you and others that are serving rural 
America to get access to that spectrum? You talked about it 
needed to be accessible and affordable.
    Mr. Forde. Yes. I think obviously as spectrum is made 
available, it needs to be available in a way that we can have 
access to it. We like county size license sizes for spectrum, 
so that's something that we can feel is a good fit for us to 
afford. Access to some of the bands of spectrum. The 2.5 
gigahertz can get through some trees and get through some 
denser areas, which allows us to ultimately serve that customer 
better. So, you know, making sure that we have access to that 
will be helpful. Of course, we also provide video services as 
well through satellite, and we've got to make sure that there 
isn't any interference with some of that spectrum as that's 
made available for more fixed wireless. So there's a good 
balance that needs to be found there as we make more spectrum 
available.
    The Chairman. I understand 5G is going to require different 
types of infrastructure in rural areas, some of which may be 
impractical in rural areas. But what other connectivity 
solutions can Midco offer?
    Mr. Forde. Well, it's, you know, that advancement of 5G 
technology, you know, the fixed wireless is a way--is similar 
to that, and some of those technology advancements are also 
advancing that fixed wireless technology. So obviously, you 
know, working with both in advancing those technologies will 
allow us to continue to have better 5G technology in our cities 
and also reach some of those hard-to-reach last areas.
    The Chairman. OK. Mayor, I think we're all well aware that 
you understand what's at stake here and are working hard to 
make it easier to build out some of these networks in the City 
of Sioux Falls. But could you talk a little bit about maybe 
what the implications are for economic growth and job creation 
if 5G deployment is slowed down by a delay in the approval by 
local, you know, zoning and siting applications?
    Mr. TenHaken. Yes. You know, I--me and my administration 
look at 5G as much as an economic driver and a workforce driver 
as anything. And in South Dakota, like a lot of places, we have 
a workforce challenge. We have a hard time recruiting people to 
come to Sioux Falls to put down roots here and work, even 
though we know the secret of this place, and it's a great place 
to be. And so being able to offer advanced technology, like 5G, 
as a point of differentiation to whether that's new college 
grads or whether that's people pivoting in their career, and 
using 5G as a point of differentiation for Sioux Falls in 
addition to our favorable tax climate and our safe community 
and our great quality of life, it would be a tremendous win for 
us in helping to fill the workforce shortage that we have and 
helping to recruit businesses here.
    We recently invested in a biotech research park called the 
USD Discovery District, which we hope will someday house a 
couple thousand jobs centered around ag, pharma, and biotech, 
and those jobs are going to require 5G connectivity to be done. 
They're going to be jobs that rely on a good--good access. And 
so a slowed down 5G rollout is only going to slow down some of 
those advancements we want to make as a city in terms of 
looking at biopharma jobs and bringing in new jobs to our city.
    The Chairman. In your experiences, do you think Sioux Falls 
is properly equipped right now to be a leader in 5G adoption?
    Mr. TenHaken. I think there's--you know, this is one topic, 
just because of my background, that I am really passionate 
about, and I've talked a lot about this. And there is a hunger 
and an appetite in this city to be a leader in this space. And 
so we've seen that in our negotiations with the carriers. When 
we're talking with them, we're saying, ``Listen, we're not 
trying to make money on the deployment of these cells. We want 
to cover our costs, and that's it, because we don't see this as 
a revenue source for the city, and we're not looking at it that 
way. We're looking at it the win is going to happen once we 
have the network, that's when the money will come in, through 
those jobs, through the economic development, and so forth.'' 
So most of our community leaders are thinking that way as well. 
So the time is really right in terms of the mindset in Sioux 
Falls to be a real early adopter in this and a leader in this.
    The Chairman. Dr. Griffiths, I was interested in listening 
to your testimony and then reading it earlier, too. You talked 
about an interesting comparison. It's not a super highway, it's 
more of a super ocean in terms of the way that the connectivity 
that will exist as a result of this when it's deployed. But 
could you talk about how 5G will improve education tools both 
for students and faculty at a university like Dakota State?
    Dr. Griffiths. Yes, certainly. It will do a lot of things. 
First of all, it's--it's like the Mayor said, if you have the 
advanced technologies, the advanced infrastructure, people will 
come to work in it because we'll have it and other places 
won't, so that's one thing that will help.
    In terms of our ability to reach out to work with K-12 
education and with our own remote students--half our students 
are remote--we will be able to extend out virtual--virtual 
reality experiences for our students. We can train them in what 
we call hand skills. The ability to convey tactile information 
with a 5G network is going to be very strong so that we'll be 
able to train them to do certain things.
    On Friday, I had an interesting conversation about 
robotic--a robotic dairy farm, which I happen to know about, 
which is strange, you know, self-milking cows. And we were 
talking about--they were talking about potentially locating 
this dairy outside Madison, South Dakota, and they were very 
interested in Dakota State because they were interested in the 
students and the graduates we have because a robotic farm is 
going to need people who can take care of the robots as well as 
taking care of the cows. I mean, it's not just the cows 
anymore, the robots also need certain care and feeding as well.
    So--but I think the biggest thing that 5G in this area 
would do is to keep many of our graduates in this State. As you 
know, we are very technologically advanced with our graduates. 
57 percent of our high-tech graduates leave the state. We want 
to provide them opportunities to stay in-state. Many of them 
would prefer to stay in-state. And so I think with--by putting 
the infrastructure in place that will enable 5G services, we 
will attract the industries and the jobs and the innovation and 
entrepreneurship to occur within South Dakota to bring people 
in, to bring people back, and to keep our graduates here.
    The Chairman. And among the subjects that you've studied is 
how the digital revolution has affected research.
    Dr. Griffiths. Yes.
    The Chairman. So what do you see as the impact of 5G on the 
ability to collect and use information and what that might mean 
for the economy and for how we live our lives?
    Dr. Griffiths. Well, information is power, so, you know, 
there is this ability to collect a lot of information about how 
technology is used, how people are mobilizing, new 
applications, and all of that data can be gathered and analyzed 
in interesting ways. So, for example, we are looking now at law 
enforcement information, the number of cyber attacks that 
people have seen. Analyzing the data on who is attacked, where, 
by whom, what kind of attacks, et cetera, where the 
vulnerabilities lie, allow us to take those patterns and 
project out into industries so that we can be more proactive in 
preventing those kinds of attacks.
    So there's a tremendous opportunity. If you have the 
information and you gather the information, that pool of 
information gives you the ability to know more than anyone else 
and to go out and help people fix the kinds of problems that 
they're having. So it's a huge advantage. And we believe that, 
plus the specialized resources that we're building in Madison, 
South Dakota, at DSU will attract people in so that we'll be 
able to attract new faculty who might not otherwise be 
attracted, we'll be able to attract students who might not 
otherwise come, and we'll be able to attract partners to come 
and work alongside us in this part of the country rather than 
staying out on the fringes, as it were.
    The Chairman. Yes. Good. A magnet. Yes.
    Commissioner Carr, I mentioned earlier some of the things 
the FCC is doing, which I give you great credit, you and your 
fellow Commissioners, because I think you're very forward-
looking, and many of the ideas that are incorporated I think as 
has been pointed out by several of the panelists in the 
STREAMLINE Act legislation, the FCC has been moving forward 
with, or at least moving forward in areas that are consistent 
with the goals that are outlined in the legislation. And so I 
just think you guys are really, really hitting it, and hitting 
it on all cylinders, in terms of what we need to be doing. But 
could you speak a little bit further to some of these recent 
FCC rulings, and particularly about wireless infrastructure and 
what it means for 5G deployment?
    Commissioner Carr. Sure. And thank you, Senator, for your 
leadership on these issues. We benefited a lot at the FCC from 
the legislation that you've introduced, the ideas that you've 
put together, as well as local leaders, including the mayor. 
There have been 20 states around the country that adopted 
updated procedures to account for these new small cell 
deployments. And if you think back, a lot of our regulations 
were written in an era of almost exclusively 200-foot towers 
with a large footprint. There were environmental reviews, 
historic reviews, costs, timelines, that maybe made sense given 
that massive construction project. But when you have a small 
cell the size of a backpack or smaller, like the one we have 
now, when it can go on an existing light pole, those outdated 
approaches didn't make sense and were holding us back.
    So in March, we reached a decision that excluded these 
small cells, but only the small cells, from the environmental 
and historic reviews that apply to those 200-foot towers, and 
there's an economic study put into the record that showed that 
the March decision cut about $1.5 billion in red tape. And we 
saw situations, for instance, where you can put a 30-foot tower 
in a parking lot where the ground was disturbed, new pavement 
put down, but nonetheless, you had to get a historic 
preservation review as if you were turning the ground over 
anew, and you could have a deployment costing $30,000, where 
the environmental review would cost $27,000. So it was out of 
step with the technology, and that's why we reached the 
decision in March.
    And then two weeks ago, we reached another decision that 
really builds on a lot of the ideas that we heard the mayor 
just talk about. Cities absolutely need to be compensated for 
their costs in reviewing these deployments. They can't be going 
underwater reviewing the private sector's investments. They 
need to be made whole, as the mayor made clear. And that's what 
we did in our decision. We made sure that cities get their 
reasonable costs compensated, but that this is not a revenue-
generating opportunity, as the Mayor said, because we need to 
move forward on a scope and scale of small cells that we've 
never done before. So we have to clear out the red tape that 
has been holding it back.
    The Chairman. Yes. I'm glad that South Dakota is leading 
the way on that, too and you heard earlier that the South 
Dakota Municipal League here in South Dakota is coming up with 
a draft ordinance for cities to adopt that would enable these 
infrastructures to be in place and to be built out. What you 
and the Commissioner are doing I think dovetail nicely with all 
of those activities. So we want to continue to encourage that. 
And, honestly, as we look at these issues, obviously we want to 
be respectful of the prerogatives of local governments and 
authorities and do it in a way that strikes a balance, but also 
in a way that's reasonable and doesn't stand in the way of what 
I think is going to be an enormous economic opportunity for our 
cities and our states and our country.
    What are the implications, to follow up on your point about 
siting policies, that go beyond cost-based recovery?
    Commissioner Carr. We saw evidence in our record that small 
cells are particularly sensitive to excessive regulatory fees, 
and we saw in the record where providers were looking to deploy 
in relatively small communities across the Midwest, and 
excessive fees resulted in pulling back and investing that 
deployment in the areas where the fees were a lot more 
reasonable. We saw record evidence of excessive fees in big 
coastal cities that would suck up the capital needed to deploy 
small cells in surrounding communities. So we saw real impacts 
in terms of the regulatory fees impacting where deployment 
takes place and whether deployment is going to take place.
    The Chairman. Yes. Thank you.
    Mr. Fisher, we had Meredith Baker, who is the CEO of the 
CTIA, testify before the Commerce Committee earlier this year, 
and she said, and I quote, a small cell often can be installed 
in about an hour. The challenge we face is that governmental 
approval processes can take more than a year, and the 
application and fee structures are often mismatched with the 
smaller footprint of tomorrow's networks, end quote.
    So could you kind of expand on this concept for us and 
explain how we can remove red tape and get infrastructure 
deployed to spur jobs and growth and get broadband competition 
more quickly?
    Mr. Fisher. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think I agree a 
lot with what Commissioner Carr just kind of pointed out, which 
is I think historically when you've looked at the way that 
we've had red tape around expanding cell coverage, we thought 
of cell coverage, especially in 2G all the way up to 4G about 
large macro towers and, you know, historical preservation 
reviews and NEPA regulations. There are a lot of things that 
went into that process. And I'm not saying that that wasn't 
incorrect maybe at the time given the size of some of those 
things. But as we move to really taking 5G--and the way I like 
to describe it to folks like I think about my parents and 
trying to explain what we're doing on 5G, when you're taking 
the network out closer to the consumer and trying to make a 
service that is going to be, 1,000 times faster than we have 
today, you need to realize that when we're deploying something 
like this, the same things that Commissioner Carr pointed out 
and the regulations that surrounded large towers applying to 
this really don't make sense. And the time, the amount of 
money, that go to that definitely do get more exercise towards 
that process and really take away, you know, potential 
investment in other surrounding areas.
    So I think continuing to encourage, and I hope that the 
Senate will take up the STREAMLINE Act and pass it because I 
think it's a perfect complement to what Commissioner Carr and 
the rest of the FCC have done, which is really getting some of 
that underburden out so that we can get out there and quickly 
deploy because I think it's crucial that we do it because we 
know that China and others are working very fast to do this, 
and I think it's critical that, just as we led the world in 4G 
deployment, the U.S. should lead in 5G deployment.
    The Chairman. I want to follow up on the point you made 
about the steps. What steps do we need to take to win the 5G 
race when you have other countries like China, South Korea, 
Japan and Europe heading in the same direction here, but are 
deploying communications networks at a faster rate? And in a 
lot of cases they don't have to deal with, the regulatory 
issues that we have in our country.
    So say we want to win that race, what are the steps that we 
need to be taking, that you think are necessary?
    Mr. Fisher. Well, I think we've taken a critical first step 
with what the FCC has done, and I think that's good. I think 
building upon what they have done in passing the STREAMLINE Act 
would be critical. I do agree with what Mr. Forde said, too, 
you know, we need to identify mid-band spectrum, which is 
critically important. I agree with a lot of what he said on the 
mid-band side. It's important to get more spectrum out there as 
quickly as possible. A lot of other countries have been doing 
that for many years and have been rushing to do that.
    The Chairman. Can you talk just a minute and follow up why 
mid-band spectrum is important?
    Mr. Fisher. Yes. Well, I think as we move to--as we've 
thought about cell service, cell service was always about big 
towers, low-band frequencies that can penetrate through walls, 
really cover big distances. As we move into 5G we're looking 
and deploying right now using what they call millimeter-wave 
spectrum, which is high frequency. And the higher you go up, 
the shorter distance it travels, but it has the ability to 
carry massive amounts of data.
    But in order to have all these things work, mid-band 
spectrum is going to be very complementary with high-frequency 
spectrum and low-frequency spectrum, quite frankly, because as 
you push the network out further distances, you're going to 
need a combination of short-travel-distance spectrum to longer 
distance traveled spectrum to be able to cover larger areas.
    So all of those things are going to be very complementary 
to one another, and it's going to be very critical for those 
things to happen, I think, in a very thoughtful but speedy way 
so that we don't fall behind the rest of the world, because I--
I think the most--the most damaging thing that we could do is 
take longer--take a longer amount of time to do this because we 
would be missing out on billions and billions of dollars of 
global economic cost to the U.S. because we've led in 4G, and 
we saw the benefits from it. It's how the app economy exploded 
in this country.
    And probably a lot to what the mayor and the businesses 
that he ran, that--that was--that was really largely because of 
the--of the way we did networks here in the United States. If 
we continue to do that here in 5G, we will continue to develop 
things that we can't even know or understand, things that 
students at Dakota State are trying to develop today.
    So it's just vitally important that we--that we move 
forward quickly.
    The Chairman. And with all--it sounds like all the various 
bands of spectrum play into that.
    Mr. Fisher. Correct.
    The Chairman. But mid-band is especially valuable in terms 
of----
    Mr. Fisher. Very valuable, yes.
    The Chairman. OK. Dr. Griffiths, I would be remiss if I 
didn't ask this question because it's kind of what you and your 
folks do. But 5G does offer the ability to connect many more 
devices to the Internet than we currently have at a higher 
level of connectivity, lower latency, tremendous increases in 
speed. But what challenges does this raise for cybersecurity?
    Dr. Griffiths. Oh, I think, as I mentioned, every time you 
connect a new device to the network, you create potential for 
new vulnerabilities, not just in the devices--in hardware, 
coded in hardware is particular a problem. In software, it's a 
little bit easier to detect.
    The other challenge I think that we have in this 
environment, as it moves so rapidly, is--is making sure we pay 
attention to the privacy concerns of the public that, you know, 
now people are becoming more aware of devices that are actually 
recording them, and they--you know, we take it for granted that 
things will work the way we think they're going to work, but, 
again, bad actors are always in play, and we need to always be 
mindful of that.
    So we do--we do educate some of our young people to--to 
think like that. It's a different way of thinking, to be more 
proactive in looking at the cybersecurity environment to 
actually test things out in a proactive way to ensure that they 
can find potential vulnerabilities.
    And I think it's a concern as we shift generations. So I'm 
afraid I'm a generation that saw the birth of the modern 
Internet, so, you know, my mind works in certain ways, and I'm 
glad I won't have to deal with the waves of innovation that 
will come. But young people today have a totally different 
approach to the way they interact with technology, the way they 
think about privacy, the way they deal with data, et cetera. So 
it's a totally different world.
    So I think there are going to be some social strains and 
stresses on the system that are going to actually eventually 
have to be worked out through governance structures and policy, 
et cetera.
    The Chairman. OK. I'm glad you're training people to 
understand the bad guys, but getting them to work for the good 
guys. That's what we want to have.
    Dr. Griffiths. And make sure they put their white hats on.
    The Chairman. Right. And I would just say, too, if anybody 
else on any of these questions wants to jump in, feel free to 
do that.
    Mr. Fisher. Mr. Chairman, I was actually just going to 
follow up on something that Dr. Griffiths said because I think 
it's important on the privacy front. And I agree, there's a lot 
of work being done on the cybersecurity front as it relates to 
5G and privacy. But in particular, this Committee has been very 
engaged in the privacy debate. You've held a series of hearings 
over the last couple weeks on privacy and what we should do, 
and as you know, Verizon has been pushing for comprehensive 
privacy reform for the last 6 years, and we believe it's well 
past our time to update those laws, primarily for some of the 
reasons that Dr. Griffiths brought up. But it's critically 
important that consumers have a sense of their privacy, and I 
think a lot of what we've seen over the last couple of years is 
certainly putting a lot of pause into people and the Americans 
across the country who are trying to figure out how their data 
is being used. So while I know it's somewhat relevant to this 
hearing, I think it's an important topic and something that the 
Committee hopefully and that the Senate and the House can pass 
legislation in 2019 to update our Nation's privacy laws.
    The Chairman. I couldn't agree more with that.
    Mr. Shlanta, obviously we're all talking about swift action 
on 5G spectrum and deployment and how critical that is, but 
much of that massive amount of data is going to travel over 5G 
networks that will travel over SDN and the thousands of miles 
of fiber that you and your members currently operate. How is 
this increase in data traffic going to affect your business?
    Mr. Shlanta. Well, first of all, thank you. You know, I 
would say the change in consumer behavior that we've seen 
especially in the 4G world is things really moved to the 
handset in terms of how transactions started to take place. You 
know, we'll see that double, triple, 10 times, in terms of the 
number of transactions that will take place over the next 
decade across those--those handsets. All of that, of course, 
gets gathered up across those wireless networks and then 
transmitted across the fiber networks.
    You know, one of the things that we are planning for and 
have been continuing to invest in is the expansion, not just 
the reach of our fiber network, but the capacity of the fiber 
network, the optical network behind the glass that not every 
one sees. And so we're already laying the, I'll say, groundwork 
to upgrade those aspects of our network. Some of those are 
already in place as we're seeing the deployments that the 
wireless carriers are bringing forward. But the, I'll say, 
opportunities and challenges it brings, some of the 
opportunities are I'll say staying current with the technology 
and finding the right workforce and being able to hire them and 
attract them to a state like South Dakota. And, you know, 
that's one of the--I'll say one of the challenges, one of 
opportunities, is just being able to meet those challenges. It 
may be somewhat cliche, but those are the kind of things that 
drive I know largely my technical team to the office every day 
that work and discover on those types of activities.
    But if I could, I'd like to build on one other statement 
that--or a couple of statements that were made here today, and 
I wanted to build on one that the mayor was speaking earlier, 
that it was hitting me. And I think if you go back and look at 
the record today, you're going to find people who talk about 
all of us, in terms of witnesses, talk about, you know, 5G and 
what's coming and what's coming to South Dakota.
    But, you know, I want to make sure the carriers and the 
people who are here recognize that South Dakota has, first of 
all, a willing government environment. You've heard the mayor 
talk about that. You've heard the Municipal League talk about 
that. You know, we want to attract the 5G deployments to our 
state. You've heard different speakers talk about really the 
diversity of our climate, the diversity of our populations, the 
diversity of our environment. So there are great testbed 
opportunities to come here. And we talk about really the 
technical resources that not only SDN, but Mr. Forde, at 
Midcontinent, offer to the carriers as we come.
    And I would say, last, and it's the thing that I think 
people overlook at times, it's the network security. We want to 
push this forward, but we cannot overlook the network security 
aspects.
    I ran into you earlier this week in Washington. You were 
headed to the White House, and I was headed to a cybersecurity 
briefing, and just to hear those business leaders talk about 
the needs for security in their transmissions, you know, was 
driving the point home. So I just want to make sure that as a 
government official who helps drive legislation, that you don't 
overlook the security aspects, so we bring that along at the 
same time we bring along all the other aspects of our--of our 
networks.
    The Chairman. OK. Good.
    Mr. TenHaken. Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman. Yes, sir.
    Mr. TenHaken. Somewhat of a pivot from what Mark just 
talked about, but I want to make sure we get this out before 
the hearing ends. And, you know, the one ``wet blanket'' piece 
of this that I feel we need to also address is what health 
impacts micro-millimeter waves have because it's so new. And as 
a mayor, and as a mayor who is sitting on this panel, and the 
media is here, I'm going to get asked this 20 times yet this 
evening about the health ramifications of 5G and small cell 
deployment and mmW. And I've been getting asked it a lot 
already.
    And I know there are no documented studies because the 
technology is so new. And it reminds me a little bit of when 
microwaves came into our home, and people were concerned about 
the microwaves, and holding a cell phone to your head is going 
to fry your brain, and these things, and I'm hearing this more 
and more.
    And so while the concern I think is very inflated, it is 
something that we, as municipalities, are going to need help 
addressing. If we want to be excited and push this forward, 
which we are, we also need to have very clear direction, 
talking points, studies that have been done that show that 
there is no harm to our constituents and to the taxpayers on 
putting these small cells on towers close to libraries, close 
to schools, close to their homes.
    And so I, for one, have been researching this and have not 
seen any damaging effects of this, but I do think it's 
something that this group, you know, will have to just consider 
to look at and continue to study so that as we push the 
legislation forward, we can do so with not only a clear 
conscience, but also have the right answers for people who 
express that concern.
    The Chairman. Yes. Good point, that is something that you 
do hear. We hear about it and I'm sure the FCC hears about it, 
too.
    Commissioner Carr. Yes, I'm happy to step in real quick on 
that. So the FCC, as well as other agencies that are experts in 
health and safety issues, are always looking very closely at 
these issues, staying up to date on the latest science. They've 
looked at all of the studies and all of the information, and 
they've reached the determination that these are safe, and 
that's a determination that is constantly undergoing review, 
and any new information that comes up is taken into account. 
And, in fact, given the position of the Federal agencies on 
this, Federal law actually says that State and local 
governments can't take RF concerns into account given how much 
work has already gone into this issue at the Federal level. And 
that's not to say that you don't hear about these concerns. And 
we have community meetings where people raise the concerns. All 
I can say is that both the FCC and other expert health agencies 
in Washington, they stay very much up to speed on these issues 
and have reached the determination that these are safe.
    The Chairman. I appreciate that. And you're right Mayor, 
there is a lot of research that has been done, but it's always 
important that efforts be made to educate your constituents, my 
constituents, the people across this country, who have that 
concern, and make sure we understand exactly what, if any, 
those health risks are. But as I have studied the literature 
that you and the FCC have, most of it comes to the same 
conclusion in terms of the impacts, but it's something 
certainly that we need to be able to explain and be aware of.
    Between the auctions that are scheduled for this year and 
next, there will be a lot of new high-band spectrum coming into 
the market, but we were talking about mid-band spectrum and how 
desirable that is. I want to ask Commissioner Carr, are the 
FCC's allocations of mid-band spectrum keeping pace with such 
allocations for high-band spectrum? Can you talk a little bit 
about the auctions and what you guys are doing over there?
    Commissioner Carr. Happy to do so, Senator. Thanks for the 
question.
    I think to start, obviously the MOBILE NOW Act, which you 
got across the finish line, has put a lot more spectrum on the 
table, which is going to be key for deploying 5G networks. 
We've heard a lot about what we call at the FCC high-band 
spectrum, and that's going to be a key part of some of the 
initial 5G deployments, but ultimately, we need to push 5G down 
the spectrum band, including mid-band. And if you look at all 
the spectrum globally, the U.S. is leading the world in terms 
of allocating and freeing up more spectrum for mobile, but a 
lot of that is in the high-millimeter-wave band. So right now, 
we are turning our focus very closely to what we call ``mid-
band spectrum.'' We have a number of proceedings underway, and 
we need to keep pushing forward, to your point, to get that 
mid-band spectrum out there.
    The Chairman. OK. We're kind of getting to the time when we 
need to wrap up, but I just wanted, for any of our panelists 
today, to respond to kind of a couple of wrap-up questions or 
any closing remarks that you would like to make, or anything 
that you feel we didn't touch on that we need to touch on.
    But just one question to think about, and that is, What can 
we do at the Federal level to help speed up deployment in South 
Dakota and around the country? My goal is to have South Dakota 
have the fasted Internet speeds in the Nation, in the world, 
for that matter. But, so, obviously I'm greatly interested in 
that as it pertains to our state here.
    And then how is this next-generation technology that we 
talked about today going to change what you do every day, and 
how is it going to change what we all do? I mean, I know it's 
kind of a broad question, but if--and maybe it gets to a little 
bit some of the benefits and potential attributes and virtues 
of this technology.
    But what can the Federal Government be doing to speed it 
up? And, second, how does it change what we do every day and 
how is it going to change how we all live every day? Think 
about that for a minute. Anybody who wants to chime in, feel 
free.
    Mayor.
    Mr. TenHaken. Yes. You know, I think there is still so much 
unknown because it's--it's going to be the ``Wild West'' again. 
And so there's--there are innovations that haven't even been 
thought of yet which will bubble up as a result of 5G 
deployment. So I think that's why it's so important to keep the 
foot on the gas on this, because there are things we haven't 
even thought of yet, but--and there are things we have thought 
of.
    For instance, I--I was talking with our police force today 
and was sharing with them the fact that with 5G, we would be 
able to have HD live feed body camera footage going back to 
Metro, so rather than them having to call in when an officer is 
down or a shot's been fired, they're seeing it in real time in 
HD, and the response times would improve, and they hadn't even 
thought of that as an application to what would help them 
better serve the public.
    So I think there are so many things and so many doors that 
would be opened, which is why I think most of us up here are 
really excited at the opportunity. With Dr. Griffiths, we've 
talked about between a partnership with Madison and Dakota 
State and Sioux Falls, they are, you know, the ``Cadillac'' of 
cybersecurity colleges, and they're cranking out amazing grads. 
But they also know they have challenges being in Madison, South 
Dakota, and--or in Sioux Falls. And if we can create a 5G 
network and a 5G kind of pathway between Madison and Sioux 
Falls, we could really be known as a cybersecurity--it could be 
the next industry that this state is known for. But it's going 
to take that technology before we can--we can make that a 
reality.
    So I guess my closing statement is just things like the 
STREAMLINE Act and MOBILE NOW, keep the foot on the gas on it. 
I think you have a lot of municipalities that want to be 
supportive and want to help. They also want to make sure it's 
fair to the taxpayer on the deployment. But there's a lot of 
excitement and energy for what could be.
    The Chairman. OK. Great.
    Dr. Griffiths. If I could just add to that, it's--it's 
ultimately going to be all about the services and applications, 
but you can't get them until you've got the infrastructure in 
place. And if you delay on putting the basic infrastructure in 
place when the services come out, it will take you longer to 
get that infrastructure there.
    It reminds me very much of Internet 1 to Internet 2, and a 
group of academic institutions wanted to put in the next 
generation of Internet so that we can experiment with it and 
see how it worked. We didn't switch our regular Internet use to 
that Internet 2, it was purely a research network, and a number 
of my colleagues at the time were reluctant to sign up. So I 
was the first one to sign up for Internet 2. We're now talking 
academically about Internet 3. But it's the same--it's the same 
environment.
    My feeling was, how could I sit and not have my faculty and 
students have access to the best resources available to them? 
I'm sure you think the same about your constituents. How can we 
not make available the potential of all this capability once 
those services come available? We can't think of what those 
services would be. I don't think anyone would have imagined 
Amazon to have grown to be the behemoth that it is in all the 
different areas it's doing business, but, you know, the 
business, the applications, the innovations will come, but if 
the infrastructure is not in place, then you're behind, and 
once you're behind, it's hard to catch up.
    Mr. Fisher. And, Mr. Chairman, I think that this discussion 
today has been extremely helpful. I think all the work that's 
being done at all levels of government there's a real effort by 
a lot of folks at the Federal side and legislation that you are 
championing that we remain committed to hopefully try to get 
that--that bill passed. I think the mayor brings up, you know, 
excellent points.
    I mentioned in my testimony, I'd like to underscore it 
again, we're working very hard at a local level to talk to 
cities all across the country and have these discussions about 
getting our--our investment, you know, out there as quickly as 
possible. So I think just keeping a foot on the gas pedal is 
the theme that we're using here on the Federal side.
    And I would say to your last question, the capabilities of 
5G right now is basically wherever your mind can take you at 
this point. And I think that whether it's students that are 
currently enrolled at Dakota State or universities across the 
country. I bet if we sat here even 10, 15 years ago and talked 
about the app economy today and what it blew up to, none of us 
would have ever guessed what would have happened, and 4G took 
us there.
    I think 5G leads us to a whole different level of virtual 
reality, augmented reality, and even applications that we don't 
know of. The latency--one thing that we didn't talk about that 
I'll just mention quickly, the latency as we go to 5G, that is 
the time, that devices can talk back and forth on the network.
    Just an example would be that today if you take an 
autonomous car, and it's traveling at 60 miles an hour, and 
it's communicating over a 4G network, and it has to signal that 
it's about to break, the processing time right today on a 4G 
network is about 4 feet. When it's going 60 miles an hour, 
about 4 feet is the processing time to go back and forth. I 
think as we have autonomous vehicles, we can all safely assume 
that we want to make sure that things are happening very 
quickly and very rapidly. In a 5G world latency, the same 
example, a car traveling 60--it goes from 4 feet to 1 inch of 
compute power, and the latency will be quicker than a blink of 
an eye.
    And so that really gives us unlimited potential as it 
relates to robotic surgery. You know, think about the things 
that we can do to take STEM education to the next level. You 
know, here, I think in many parts of South Dakota, what that 
means to ag tech and farmers across the country.
    So let our imaginations take us where 5G is possible, but I 
think maybe 10 years from now, we could be sitting around here 
imagining all these things that we couldn't believe here today.
    At Verizon, we're very excited about this. We have five 
labs, 5G labs, that we're opening across the country. We have 
one open in New York right now. We're going to have some open 
in Palo Alto and Washington, D.C., Boston, and L.A. by the end 
of 2018. So these will really be testbeds for people to come 
and test out technologies.
    The Chairman. The mayor was waiting to hear you say ``Sioux 
Falls.''
    Mr. Shlanta. I was ready to chime in----
    Mr. Fisher. My understanding is that we've had some initial 
discussions and conversations continue, so we look forward to 
that.
    The Chairman. Great.
    Mr. Forde. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for bringing 
this hearing to South Dakota and for your leadership and your 
staff and all the hard work they've put in to keeping us a 
technology leader here in South Dakota. You know, we're just so 
blessed to have all these companies together working so hard on 
this issue, and I think that are fiber networks and our data 
center, our Gig Initiative, our fixed wireless, just making all 
these things a part of this process leads to the great 
environment that we have here in this community. And we're 
blessed to be able to work with everyone here at the table and 
to continue move things forward in our state.
    Mr. Shlanta. One last thing I'd just like to say is we've 
heard a lot today about 5G wireless. So much will happen, 
especially in the--probably the urban centers as we get 
started. But I just wanted to also say thank you, Chairman 
Thune and Commissioner Carr, for all the work that you do in 
the rural networks as well. The needs of rural are different 
than we see in the urban areas. So I just wanted to say thank 
you for all your efforts there as well.
    Commissioner Carr. Also, real quick, I think there are 
still a number of great ideas in the STREAMLINE Small Cell 
Deployment Act that's in Congress right now. And I'll also say 
today we were with the really talented crews of Sioux Falls 
Tower, and if you think about having about 15- to 20,000 cell 
sites in the country going up a year, well, next year we need 
to see about 60,000 a year increasing from there. So it's 
actually a good jobs story, but we're at a point where we need 
to make sure we have the trained workforce that can do that 
massive increase in infrastructure deployment. I think there's 
work we can do on the apprenticeship side. I think there's work 
we can do on the community college side as well to get very 
quickly the skill sets into the community.
    The Chairman. All right. Thank you.
    Well, listen, thanks to all of you. Appreciate your input, 
your thoughts, your suggestions. And I think it's really 
exciting. And we've had a number of hearings in the Commerce 
Committee dealing with some of these new technologies, like 
artificial intelligence and quantum computing and blockchain 
and other things, all of which I think become increasingly more 
possible.
    And I've used the example, Mr. Fisher, that you use with 
autonomous vehicles because, you know, one of the things that 
we--and the reason I'm interested in autonomous vehicles is 
that we lose 37,000 people every year on America's highways. 94 
percent of those accidents are human error. And if we can 
eliminate just some of that, we can save a lot of lives. It 
needs to be done in a safe way, and obviously it's much safer 
if an autonomous vehicle can stop at an inch rather than in--
what was it? 4 feet? Yes. So, you know, these are the 
dimensions of difference and dimensions of benefit that happen 
when this kind of technology and the infrastructure and 
everything that supports it is put into place.
    So we want to encourage that investment. I'm excited to see 
the things that are happening already here in South Dakota and 
the great work that's already being done. But I really do 
believe the sky is the limit, and so we want to continue to 
partner and work with everybody here at the table as we, as a 
State and a country, win this race.
    So thank you all very much. With that, this hearing is 
adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:38 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                            A P P E N D I X

                      NTCA--The Rural Broadband Association
                                  Arlington, VA, September 27, 2018
Hon. John Thune,
United States Senate,
Washington, DC.

Hon. Brian Schatz,
United States Senate,
Washington, DC.

Dear Senator Thune and Senator Schatz,

    On behalf of NTCA--The Rural Broadband Association, I write to 
reinforce our support for S. 3157, The Rapid Evolution And 
Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance Small 
Cell Deployment (the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment) Act, and our 
gratitude for your ongoing interest in improving conditions for 
broadband deployment throughout the United States.
    Having served on several of the FCC's Broadband Deployment Advisory 
Committee working groups, after reviewing many of the infrastructure 
questions and challenges presented there, and knowing well the 
obstacles NTCA members often face in seeking to build broadband 
networks across rural America, NTCA appreciates your bipartisan effort 
to reduce barriers to deployment of communications networks that are 
needed to meet the growing demands of consumers.
    Applications based on objective engineering standards, reasonable 
shot clocks, and more transparent permitting processes are common sense 
solutions that continue to respect local authority while also seeking 
to modernize infrastructure rules and promote both advanced wireless 
services and the robust wireline networks that serve as their essential 
foundation.
    NTCA looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to identify 
and address barriers to deployment and expansion of broadband 
facilities of all technologies. Thank you for your bipartisan efforts 
and we look forward to working with you on this important bill.
            Sincerely,
                                        Shirley Bloomfield,
                                           Chief Executive Officer.
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