High Cost
About High Cost:
- Overview of the Program
- Overview of the Process
- USAC FCC Filings
- HCLI Training Events
- Individual Outreach
- Video Tutorials
- Filing Appeals
- Red Light Status (FCC site)
- Requesting Confidential Information
- Understanding Audits
- Understanding Disaggregation
High Cost Tools:
Step 1: Information Requested with Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) Designations
State regulatory commissions should submit the ETC order with attachments and supporting documentation necessary to identify the service area(s) of the new ETC within the incumbent service area(s) at the wire center level for both rural and non-rural incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs).
State regulatory commissions should submit the ETC order with attachments and supporting documentation necessary to identify the service area(s) of the new ETC within the incumbent service area(s) at the wire center level for both rural and non-rural incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs).
In cases where a new ETC serves only some of the wire centers of a rural ILEC, the state commission should note that those wire centers are not approved until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concurs with the commission's ETC designation order. Under Section 54.207 of the FCC's rules, ETCs that do not serve all the wire centers of a rural ILEC's study area are required to seek redefinition of that incumbent's study area by the FCC if the wire centers have not already been redefined in a previous FCC order.
As such, any ETC orders submitted by a state commission should list in detail:
- the non-rural incumbent carrier(s) and the wire centers where the new ETC is eligible to receive support of those incumbents;
- the rural incumbent carrier(s) where the new ETC serves the entire study area and the wire centers associated with each rural incumbent study area; and
- the rural incumbent carrier(s) and the wire centers associated with each rural incumbent study area where the new ETC will need to seek redefinition from the FCC.
