$ 9 billion 5G fund to support precision ag in U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, has set up the so-called Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force.

$ 1 billion specifically targeted toward precision agriculture

FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, said: “The FCC understands the importance of precision agriculture to the nation’s economy and wants to encourage its growth across the country. That’s why I recently proposed a $ 9 billion 5G Fund to support next generation wireless services, which will include $ 1 billion specifically targeted toward precision agriculture. In addition, we’ve set up this important Task Force so we and others can learn from the on-the-ground practical experiences of those using technology in modern farming.”

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FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, said: “The FCC understands the importance of precision agriculture to the nation’s economy and wants to encourage its growth across the country.” – Photo: AFP

The Task Force has four working groups:

1. Mapping and Analyzing Connectivity on Agricultural Lands;
2. Examining Current and Future Connectivity Demand for Precision Agriculture;
3. Encouraging Adoption of Precision Agriculture and Availability of High-Quality Jobs on Connected Farms;
4. Accelerating Broadband Deployment on Unserved Agricultural Lands.

Trilogy CEO George Woodward to lead task force

The precision ag task force is led by George Woodward, CEO of Trilogy Networks. “The critical need for this very pertinent task force has increased drastically with the onset of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus),” says Woodward. “The ability to take today’s technology and best practices and rapidly deploy them to secure and improve the current food supply is of paramount importance. Ensuring the farm-to-table ecosystem is supported with cutting-edge technology has never been more important.”

‘Drive the next generation of efficiency in agricultural output’

“The Precision Agriculture segment is keenly focused on solutions to drive the next generation of efficiency in agricultural output,” said Woodward, CEO of Trilogy Networks. “We are at the genesis of what converged technologies can achieve.” The task force groups will work across industry and government to ensure the rapid deployment of technologies like 5G, IoT, Edge Computing and AI.