(a) Geographic areas eligible for support. Connect America Phase II support may be made available for census blocks or other areas identified as eligible by public notice, including locations identified by the forward-looking cost model as extremely high-cost. The number of supported locations will be identified for each area eligible for support will be identified by public notice.
(b) Term of support. Connect America Phase II model-based support shall be provided to price cap carriers that elect to make a state-level commitment for six years. Connect America Phase II support awarded through a competitive bidding process shall be provided for ten years.
(c) Deployment obligation. Recipients of Connect America Phase II model-based support must complete deployment to 40 percent of supported locations by December 31, 2017, to 60 percent of supported locations by December 31, 2018, to 80 percent of supported locations by December 31, 2019, and to 100 percent of supported locations by December 31, 2020. Compliance shall be determined based on the total number of supported locations in a state.
(1) For purposes of meeting the obligation to deploy to the requisite number of supported locations in a state, recipients may serve unserved locations in census blocks with costs above the extremely high-cost threshold instead of locations in eligible census blocks, provided that they meet the public interest obligations set forth in Sec. 54.309 for those locations and provided that the total number of locations covered is greater than or equal to the number of supported locations in the state.
(2) Recipients of Connect America Phase II model-based support may elect to deploy to 95 percent of the number of supported locations in a given state with a corresponding reduction in support computed based on the average support per location in the state times 1.89.
(d) Disbursement of Phase II funding. An eligible telecommunications carrier will be advised by public notice when it is authorized to receive support. The public notice will detail how disbursements will be made.
(e) Provider eligibility. Any eligible telecommunications carrier is eligible to receive Connect America Phase II support in eligible areas.
(1) An entity may obtain eligible telecommunications carrier designation after public notice of winning bidders in a competitive bidding process for the offer of Phase II Connect America support. An applicant in the competitive bidding process shall certify that it is financially and technically qualified to provide the services supported by Connect America Phase II in order to receive such support.
(2) To the extent an applicant in the competitive bidding process seeks eligible telecommunications carrier designation prior to public notice of winning bidders for Phase II Connect America support, its designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier may be conditional subject to the receipt of Phase II Connect America support.
(f) Transition to model-based support. Eligible telecommunications carriers electing model-based support in states where that support is less than their Phase I frozen support will transition to model-based support as follows: In addition to model-based support, in the first year of Phase II, they will receive 75% of the difference between Phase I frozen support and model-based support; in the second year of Phase II, they will receive 50% of the difference between Phase I frozen support and model-based support; and in the third year of Phase II, they will receive 25% of the difference between Phase I frozen support and model-based support. [79 FR 11335, Feb. 28, 2014, as amended at 79 FR 39188, July 9, 2014; 80 FR 4477, Jan. 27, 2015]
Effective Date Note: At 79 FR 39188, July 9, 2014, Sec. 54.310, paragraph (e)(1) was revised. This paragraph contains information collection and recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.