March 31, 2023
Webinar: Filing FCC Form 481
All eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) participating in the High Cost and/or Lifeline programs are required to submit the annual Form 481. FCC Form 481, which must be certified by July 3, 2023, collects financial and operations information used to validate carrier support, fulfilling the annual 54.313 reporting requirement for recipients of High Cost funding. Please join USAC for a webinar at 2 pm EDT on Tues., May 23, 2023, to learn more about Form 481, including changes to the form for the current filing window. Register here
December 15, 2022
Webinar: Filing in the HUBB Portal
Carriers participating in Connect America Fund (CAF) programs with defined fixed broadband buildout obligations have until March 1, 2023, to file deployment data with USAC’s High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal showing where they built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service in calendar year 2022 or certify that they have “no locations to upload.” Please join USAC at 1:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, for a webinar overview of the HUBB filing requirements and a walk through of the system. Register here.
December 15, 2022
Annual HUBB Filing Due March 1, 2023
The annual HUBB filing deadline is coming up soon. Carriers participating in modernized Connect America Fund (CAF) programs with defined fixed broadband buildout obligations have until March 1, 2023, to file deployment data with USAC’s High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal showing where they built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service in calendar year 2022 or certify that they have “no locations to upload.” Read the full announcement.
December 13, 2022
USAC Updates CAF Map
USAC has released an updated version of the Connect America Fund Broadband Map – CAF Map – an interactive online map that shows the impact of the Connect America Fund (CAF) on broadband expansion to close the digital divide in rural America. The Connect America Fund – a centerpiece of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF) High Cost program – provides funding to telecommunications carriers to bring advanced communications networks and reliable, high-speed Internet access to rural communities that might otherwise go unserved.
First launched in 2018, the CAF Map displays the geographic locations – by latitude and longitude – where carriers that receive CAF support have built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service. The latest version of the map contains updated information to reflect broadband deployment through September 2022.
The CAF Map is a key source of information about CAF-supported broadband deployment for consumers, researchers and policy makers at the federal, state and local levels. The dataset that serves as the foundation for the map can be found here. Read the full announcement here.
October 4, 2022
FCC Releases Hurricane Ian Relief Order
On October 4, 2022, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order (DA 22-1063) that waives certain E-Rate, Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rural Health Care, COVID-19 Telehealth, Lifeline, Affordable Connectivity Program, and High Cost rules and deadlines to assist participants and service providers located in the areas affected by Hurricane Ian, which struck Florida on September 28, 2022 and the states of North Carolina and South Carolina on September 29, 2022. For detailed information, please refer to the Order.
