NEP Wireless, a subsidiary of North-East Pennsylvania Telephone, is the first carrier approved for a disbursement from the FCC's Mobility Fund and intends to deploy LTE by April 2016. During the FCC's Auction 901 for Mobility Fund Phase I support, conducted in September of 2012, NEP successfully bid on seven census tracts in unserved portions of rural Wayne and Susquehanna counties located in northeast Pennsylvania. "The FCC's initial disbursement of Mobility Fund Phase I support is equal to one-third of NEP's total winning bid amount of $6,179,238.90. In order to secure the initial disbursement of funds, NEP Wireless submitted detailed support as required by the FCC's rules," said the Rural Telecommunications Group (RTG), a trade association representing small rural wireless carriers. The Mobility Fund was created as part of a program to expand mobile broadband coverage to rural and unserved areas of the United States. A total of $300 million was set aside for disbursement to reverse auction winners, who pledged to build out 3G or better mobile broadband networks. Subsidiaries of US Cellular and T-Mobile USA were among auction winners. For more, see this RTG release.