October 6, 2026
Carriers Must Certify Q3 Network Test Results or Attest to No Testing by Oct. 15
USAC reminds carriers subject to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) performance measures testing framework that they have until Thurs., Oct. 15, 2026, to submit and certify results from network speed and latency testing conducted in the third quarter of 2026 at a random sample of broadband subscriber locations supported by the Connect America Fund (CAF) and reported in the High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal.
Carriers that failed to complete a full week of speed and latency testing at all selected subscriber locations for each Study Area Code (SAC) and obligated speed tier combination by the end of the third quarter, on Sept. 30, 2026, or that fail to submit and certify all test results for the full sample of selected locations for each SAC and obligated speed tier combination through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM)Â by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline may see an impact on future CAF support payments.Â
This requirementapplies to carriers in the following funds (as well as ACS):Â
Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures testing during the third quarter because they do not have locations reported in the HUBB or cannot find active subscribers to test for a particular SAC and speed tier combination must attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may be subject to verification review that subscribers are not available. Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures testing during the third quarter for any other reason – including carriers that obtained a subscriber location sample for a particular SAC and speed tier combination but did not have time to set up testing – must also attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may see an impact on compliance calculations. Carriers should no longer separately notify the FCC and USAC by email that they did not conduct all required network testing for any reason, including a lack of active subscribers to test. USAC and the FCC will no longer accept no-subscriber or no-testing attestations by email as a form of quarterly certification. (See FCC DA 26-277 and FCC DA 25-289)
To help carriers identify any missing samples of subscriber locations for testing, missing test data or missing data certifications (or no-subscriber or no-testing attestations), the PMM features a home page dashboard that provides a consolidated view of a carrier’s status in generating samples, uploading test data and certifying test data (or attesting to no subscribers or no testing) for each required SAC and speed tier combination every quarter. The dashboard also allows carriers to filter this information by quarter, fund, SAC and state to track their progress.
Read the full announcement here.
October 6, 2026
Carriers Must Certify Q3 Network Test Results or Attest to No Testing by Oct. 15
USAC reminds carriers participating in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and the Bringing Puerto Rico Together (Uniendo a Puerto Rico) Fund and the Connect USVI Fund (PR/USVI Funds) programs that they have until Thurs., Oct. 15, 2026, to submit and certify results from network speed and latency testing conducted in the third quarter of 2026 at their new random samples of broadband subscriber locations supported by the Connect America Fund (CAF) in order to comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â performance measures testing framework.
Starting in the second half of 2026, RDOF and PR/USVI Funds carriers have resumed quarterly speed and latency testing of their CAF-supported networks using new random samples of CAF-supported subscriber locations reported in the High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal using location IDs from the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric). The FCC waived testing requirements for carriers in these funds in the first two quarters of 2026 because of the recent transition to Fabric location ID reporting in the HUBB for these programs, and required these carriers to obtain new random samples to restart testing in the third quarter of the year.
RDOF and PR/USVI Funds carriers that failed to complete a full week of speed and latency testing at all selected subscriber locations for each Study Area Code (SAC) and obligated speed tier combination by the end of the third quarter, on Sept. 30, 2026, or that fail to submit and certify all test results for the full sample of selected locations for each SAC and obligated speed tier combination through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM)Â by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline may see an impact on future CAF support payments.Â
RDOF and PR/USVI Funds carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures testing during the third quarter because they do not have locations in the HUBB or cannot find active subscribers to test for a particular SAC and speed tier combination must attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may be subject to verification review that subscribers are not available. RDOF and PR/USVI Funds carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures testing during the third quarter for any other reason – including carriers that obtained a subscriber location sample for a particular SAC and speed tier combination but did not have time to set up testing – must also attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may see an impact on compliance calculations.  Carriers should no longer separately notify the FCC and USAC by email that they did not conduct all required network testing for any reason, including a lack of active subscribers to test. USAC and the FCC will no longer accept no-subscriber or no-testing attestations by email as a form of quarterly certification. (See FCC DA 26-277 and FCC DA 25-289)
To help carriers identify any missing samples of subscriber locations for testing, missing test data or missing data certifications (or no-subscriber or no-testing attestations), the PMM features a home page dashboard that provides a consolidated view of a carrier’s status in generating samples, uploading test data and certifying test data (or attesting to no subscribers or no testing) for each required SAC and speed tier combination every quarter. The dashboard also allows carriers to filter this information by quarter, fund, SAC and state to track their progress.
Read the full announcement here.
October 6, 2026
Carriers Must Certify Q3 Network Pre-Test Results or Attest to No Testing by Oct. 15
USAC reminds carriers participating in the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced ACAM) program that they have until Thurs., Oct. 15, 2026, to submit and certify results from network speed and latency pre-testing conducted in the third quarter of 2026 at a random sample of broadband subscriber locations supported by the Connect America Fund (CAF) and reported in the High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal in order to comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Performance Measures testing framework.
Enhanced ACAM carriers that failed to complete a full week of speed and latency pre-testing at all selected subscriber locations for each Study Area Code (SAC) and obligated speed tier combination by the end of the third quarter, on Sept. 30, 2026, or that fail to submit and certify all pre-test results for the full sample of selected locations for each SAC and obligated speed tier combination through the USAC Performance Measures Module (PMM) by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline may see withholding of support.Â
Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures pre-testing during the third quarter because they do not have locations in the HUBB yet or cannot find active subscribers to test for a particular SAC and speed tier combination must attest to this (and provide an explanation)Â in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may be subject to verification review that subscribers are not available. (Enhanced ACAM carriers that do not have CAF-supported deployment data reported yet in the HUBB do not have to begin pre-testing yet, but should plan to do so within one quarter after they do.)
Carriers that did not conduct all required network performance measures pre-testing during the third quarter for any other reason – including carriers obtained a subscriber location sample for a particular SAC and speed tier combination but did not have time to set up testing – must also attest to this (and provide an explanation) in the PMM by the Oct. 15, 2026, deadline and may face withholding of support.
To help carriers identify any missing samples, missing test data or missing data certifications (or no-subscriber or no-testing attestations), the PMM features a home page dashboard that provides a consolidated view of a carrier’s status in generating subscriber location samples for testing, uploading test data and certifying test data (or attesting to no subscribers or no testing) for each required SAC and speed tier combination every quarter. The dashboard also allows carriers to filter this information by quarter, fund, SAC and state to track their progress.
Read the full announcement here.
October 5, 2026
USAC System Maintenance on October 10
USAC will perform system maintenance on Saturday, October 10, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
During the maintenance, USAC systems may be unavailable for an extended period. Users will not see system changes following the maintenance.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
September 25, 2026
New! Program Recovery Payments System
Beginning today, all users will be directed to USAC’s One Portal dashboard when they click the blue Sign In button on usac.org and log in using their existing credentials. From One Portal, users can log into the USAC systems they have access to, including the new Program Recovery Payments system for returning funding to USAC.
High Cost program participants or service providers who receive an invoice from USAC must return funding using the Program Recovery Payments system, available on One Portal. For more information about returning funding or how to navigate the system, visit the Return Program Funding webpage. For additional assistance, contact the Contributors/Service Providers Customer Service Center (CSC) at (888) 641-8722 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
