FCC Updates Guidance Regarding Locations and Broadband Coverage for Enhanced Alternative Connect America Model Mechanism

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) updated guidance regarding location and broadband coverage in the Enhanced Alternative Connect America Model (Enhanced ACAM) mechanism. Specifically, to best reflect deployment as of the August 30, 2023 offer, the Bureau will use FCC Broadband Data Collection broadband availability data as of June 30, 2023 to determine deployment obligations and support for locations in the December 2023 Serviceable Location Fabric for which such availability data are available. Using Fabric data matched to the corresponding availability data collected for that vintage of the Fabric provides the most accurate picture of broadband availability for each biannual as-of date and promotes greater data integrity and transparency. However, the Bureau recognizes that some Enhanced A-CAM electing carriers may have relied on the “as of August 30” condition in the Enhanced A-CAM Order in both electing Enhanced A-CAM and making decisions to upgrade service in late 2023, and the FCC will therefore match the earlier June 30, 2023 version of availability data with the December 2023 Fabric. In delegating to the Bureau the authority to determine the scope of broadband coverage at the time of the Enhanced A-CAM offer (and by extension the final deployment obligations and support amounts for Enhanced A-CAM-electing carriers), the FCC expected that the Enhanced A-CAM carriers, as incumbent local exchange carriers, would be aware of the locations and availability of competitive broadband in the area and that they would make their Enhanced A-CAM election based on that knowledge. The Bureau thus presumes that, as of the August 30, 2023, offer date, Enhanced A-CAM-electing carriers reasonably had knowledge of broadband coverage as of June 30, 2023, and thus using that vintage of availability data better aligns with the FCC’s expectation.