Connect America Fund Phase II Auction

Federal Communications Commission, Universal Service Administrative Company

Program Type:

Provider Operational Support

Eligible Geography:

USA

Eligibility Map:

Connect America Fund Phase II Accepted Areas Map

Program URL:

https://www.usac.org/high-cost/funds/caf-phase-ii-auction/

Summary:

Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II Auction, commonly called “CAF II Auction,” provides support to carriers to deliver service in areas where the incumbent price cap carrier didn’t accept CAF Phase II model-based funding and in extremely high-cost areas located within the service areas of the incumbent price cap carriers. Eligible areas are then reverse-auctioned to carriers to deliver voice and broadband service to a certain number of locations in certain High Cost areas served by an incumbent price cap carrier.

Eligible Recipients:

Internet Service Provider

Eligible Recipients Detail:

Internet Service Provider

Eligible Purpose:

Last Mile Infrastructure

Eligible Purpose Detail:

In order to receive CAF II funding, carriers must offer at least one voice and one broadband service commercially. These services must meet the relevant service requirements and go to the required number of locations.

Carriers must complete:

-40 percent of deployments by the end of year 3
-60 percent of deployments by the end of year 4
-80 percent of deployments by the end of year 5
-100 percent of deployments by the end of year 6

Other Eligibility Criteria:

The price cap carriers that accepted the first stage of CAF Phase II support must meet the following requirements for voice and broadband services:

-Speed: Service providers must offer broadband at speeds of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 1 Mbps upstream.
-Latency: Service providers' network latency cannot be higher than 100 milliseconds round trip. Latency is the time it takes for a data packet to travel back and forth through a network.
-Usage Allowance: Service providers must offer at least one plan with a minimum usage allowance of at least 150 gigabytes (GB) per month or a monthly usage allowance that reflects the average usage of a majority of fixed broadband customers as announced by the Wireline Competition Bureau annually, whichever is higher. Alternatively, service providers have the option of offering a usage allowance that is at or above the usage level for 80 percent of their broadband subscribers if it is at least 100 GB.

Note/Additional Resources:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/connect-america-fund-phase-ii-faqs

https://www.fcc.gov/general/connect-america-fund-caf

https://www.fcc.gov/general/price-cap-resources