September 23, 2025
Q3 Performance Measures Testing Must Be Complete by Sept. 30
USAC reminds carriers subject to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Performance Measures testing framework that they must complete a week of third quarter network speed and latency testing at a random sample of broadband subscriber locations supported by the Connect America Fund (CAF) by Tues., Sept. 30, 2025, and must submit and certify the results of that testing through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM) no later than Wed., Oct. 15, 2025.
Failure to complete a full week of speed and latency testing at the selected subscriber locations by the end of the third quarter on Sept. 30, 2025, or to submit and certify all test data for all obligated speed tiers for the full sample of selected locations by the Oct. 15, 2025, deadline will impact future CAF support payments. (See FCC DA 25-289)
This requirement applies to carriers in the following funds (as well as ACS):
Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures testing during the third quarter because they did not have active subscribers to test for a particular Study Area Code (SAC) and speed tier combination must attest to this (and provide an explanation)Â in the PMM and may be subject to verification review that subscribers were not available.
Carriers that did not conduct network performance measures testing during the third quarter for any reason, including lack of active subscribers to test, and therefore do not have test data to submit and certify, must notify the FCC and USAC by Oct. 15, 2025, by emailing ConnectAmerica@fcc.gov and hccerts@usac.org.
Read the full announcement here.
September 23, 2025
Q3 Performance Measures Pre-Testing Must Be Complete by Sept. 30
USAC reminds carriers participating in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) that they must complete a week of third quarter network speed and latency testing at a random sample of broadband subscriber locations supported by the Connect America Fund (CAF) by Tues., Sept. 30, 2025, and must submit and certify the results of that testing through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM) by Wed., Oct. 15, 2025, in order to comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Performance Measures testing framework.
RDOF carriers that fail to complete a full week of pre-testing at the selected subscriber locations by the end of the third quarter on Sept. 30, 2025, or fail to submit and certify all test data for all obligated speed tiers for the full sample of selected locations by the Oct. 15, 2025, deadline will face withholding of support. (See FCC DA 25-289)
Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures pre-testing during the third quarter because they did not have active subscribers to test for a particular Study Area Code (SAC) and speed tier combination must attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM and may be subject to verification review that subscribers were not available.
RDOF carriers that did not conduct network performance measures pre-testing during the third quarter for any reason, including lack of active subscribers to test, and therefore do not have test data to submit and certify, must notify the FCC and USAC no later than Oct. 15, 2025, by emailing ConnectAmerica@fcc.gov and hccerts@usac.org.
Read the full announcement here.
September 9, 2025
Annual ETC Certification Due by Oct. 1
State utility commissions and carriers that self certify must complete the annual certification of eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) receiving High Cost support by Wed.,Oct. 1, 2025, to ensure continued carrier participation in the High Cost program. Failure to complete this certification by the Oct. 1 deadline may result in loss of High Cost funding for carriers to provide voice and broadband service in rural communities.
The annual ETC certification, mandated under 47 CFR Section 54.314 , requires state utility commissions to certify that carriers under their jurisdiction are eligible to receive High Cost support in their states and used all support collected in the proceeding calendar year only to provide, maintain and upgrade the facilities for which the support was intended and will do the same in the coming calendar year. Carriers that self certify (ETCs not subject to state jurisdiction) must certify that they used all High Cost support collected in the proceeding calendar year only to provide, maintain and upgrade the facilities for which the support was intended and will do the same in the coming calendar year.
States may submit the annual ETC certification to USAC through the 54.314 system, which is accessible through USAC’s E-File system, or by email, fax or mail. Carriers that self certify must submit the annual ETC certification to USAC using the 54.314 system. States and carriers that self certify are no longer required to also submit the annual ETC certification separately to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (See FCC 23-87, para. 134)
Read the full announcement here.
September 8, 2025
Webinar: Avoiding Common Audit Findings
Please join USAC on Thursday, October 30th from 2:00 PM ET to 3:00 PM ET to learn how to avoid common findings of High Cost beneficiary audits. In this session, USAC’s High Cost and Internal Audit staff will discuss common carrier errors discovered during beneficiary audits. Register Here
August 20, 2025
Compliance Reports Now Available for 2024 and Q2 2025 Network Testing
Carriers subject to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Performance Measures testing framework can now access compliance reports displaying annual results from network performance measures testing conducted in 2024 through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM). These compliance reports include details at the Study Area Code (SAC) level about the percent of upload and download speed tests and latency tests aggregated across all four quarters of 2024 that met the network performance standards established by the FCC performance measures compliance framework. Please see PMM Compliance Calculations for a detailed explanation of how the PMM calculates compliance.
Annual compliance reports for 2024 – in addition to separate quarterly compliance reports for each of the four quarters of last year – are now available in the PMM for carriers participating in the following funds (as well as ACS):
Carriers in these funds, as well as carriers participating in the Bringing Puerto Rico Together (Uniendo a Puerto Rico) Fund and the Connect USVI Funds (PR/USVI Funds), can also now access compliance reports for the second quarter of 2025 through the PMM.
Read the full announcement here.
