The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has adopted an Order clarifying that Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF-BLS) recipients can satisfy their five-year “all locations” deployment obligation if 25/3 Mbps broadband service can be validated to just 95 percent of a recipients’ locations using National Broadband Map and Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric data. The Bureau also has waived its rules to extend by a year (i.e., to January 1, 2026) the commencement of the next CAF-BLS five-year deployment term while Bureau staff considers general program reforms in a pending rulemaking.
