The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has granted a short-term waiver of the March 1, 2017 deadline for certain Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients to report their first set of geo-located broadband information and related certifications through the High Cost Universal Service Broadband (HUBB) Portal. The deadline for CAF Phase II model-based support recipients to file their first set of broadband information is extended until July 1, 2017. The deadline for Connect America Fund-Broadband Loop Support (CAF-BLS) recipients with a defined deployment obligation to submit their first set of broadband information is extended to March 1, 2018. Extensions were requested by NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association (NTCA) and WTA–Advocates for Rural Broadband (WTA).
Additionally, the Bureau clarified the obligation of Alternative Connect America Model (A-CAM) recipients to file “pre-existing” broadband information by March 1, 2019. The Bureau specifically clarified that, pursuant to the Rate-of-Return Reform Order, A-CAM carriers’ “pre-existing” locations are all locations deployed in 2016 and earlier, not 2015 and earlier, as was indicated in a prior HUBB Public Notice.
