The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has released version 2.0 of the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM v2.0), which incorporates updated study area boundary data, interior service area boundaries, and central office (Node0) locations. Additionally, the A-CAM v2.0 adds two connections from each regional access tandem ring to an Internet access point to account for the cost of connecting to the public Internet, and it contains a new size category for central offices serving fewer than 250 locations. Of particular importance for a small subset of carriers, the A-CAM v2.0 middle mile network topology includes an undersea route for American Samoa and submarine routes for service areas not connected by roads within the continental U.S. The Bureau has also released results that illustrate how different per-location funding caps used in calculating support impact the potential support calculated for a particular rate-of-return study area. They are available here. Additional data related to A-CAM v2.0 is available from the FCC’s rate-of-return resources website.
