The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) has issued a public notice providing guidance to various Connect America Fund (CAF) recipients regarding their upcoming obligations to report geo-located broadband information and make service milestone certifications using the High Cost Universal Service Broadband portal (known also as “HUBB”). Geo-location reporting obligations will begin as of March 1, 2017 for many carriers, including rate-of-return carriers, recipients of Phase II model-based support and Alaska Communications Systems. For others, including rate-of-return Alaska Plan carriers and Rural Broadband Experiment (RBE) recipients, the obligation will begin as of March 1, 2018. Location reporting requirements vary by funding mechanism. Some require reporting of “pre-existing” locations where service was available prior to funding authorization and others require only “newly served” locations. The public notice details the types of locations that must be reported.
