FCC authorizes over $18 billion in Enhanced A-CAM support to expand rural broadband

The Federal Communications Commission authorized 368 rate-of-return companies in 44 states that elected offers of Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced A-CAM) support to receive model-based support. The authorizations specify support to the electing companies for a 15-year period beginning January 1, 2024, in exchange for these companies committing to deploy broadband service of at least 100/20 Megabits per second (Mbps) service to over 700,000 unserved locations across the United States, and maintain or improve existing 100/20 Mbps service to approximately 2 million locations. Current A-CAM I and A-CAM II recipients are authorized to receive approximately $866.5 million per year, while current legacy support recipients will receive approximately $385.4 million in frozen support in 2024 and transition toward the model-calculated support amounts over the term of support. The Enhanced A-CAM support authorized totals $18,281,852,513 over the full 15-year term. The FCC also authorizes and directs the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to obligate and disburse the appropriate transition payments to those carriers eligible for such support as determined by the FCC.