Eligibility

The Katrina Order makes no changes to eligibility requirements for High Cost program participants. Those rural and non-rural eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) eligible to receive high-cost support in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi historically continue to be eligible. All ETCs, consistent with established FCC rules, must be use certified for any high-cost support received subject to the FCC Waiver Order, DA 05-2484.

The Katrina Order only clarified that an ETC’s use of high-cost support to repair and rebuild facilities and services damaged by Hurricane Katrina is consistent with the section 254 requirement that high-cost funds must be used only for the provision, maintenance, and upgrading of facilities and services for which the support in intended.