FCC Authorizes an Additional $36 Million Annually to A-CAM Carriers for Rural Broadband Support

The Federal Communications Commission has released an additional $36 million annually for 175 small rural carriers that opted to transition to receive broadband Universal Service support based on the alternative Connect America cost model (A-CAM). In exchange, the A-CAM carriers have committed to more aggressive broadband deployment goals – although those goals are not as aggressive as those originally established for the A-CAM portion of the high-cost Universal Service program back in 2016. At that time, more carriers than expected opted to receive A-CAM support, driving the commission to reduce both funding and deployment commitments. Anticipations changed in March 2018, however, when the FCC voted to release an additional $360 million over a 10-year period to A-CAM carriers.  As a July 23  FCC press release explains, the $360 million is based on an adding approximately $36 million annually to the A-CAM budget for the next 10 years.