Funds
The High Cost/Connect America program consists of multiple funds that subsidize the delivery of voice and broadband service across rural America.
Modernized Funds
- Connect America Fund Phase II Model – Provided set monthly payments based on a cost model to price cap carriers to build broadband service with speeds of at least 10 megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream (10/1 Mbps) to a specific number of fixed locations in areas eligible for funding. The CAF Phase II Model support term initially ran from 2015 to 2020, and all participating carriers then elected an optional seventh year of support for 2021. CAF II Model carriers had until the end of 2021 to complete deployment and were required to meet interim deployment milestones.
- Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II Auction – Provides support to entities that successfully bid in a 2018 competitive reverse auction to deploy broadband in areas where the incumbent price cap carrier did not accept CAF II Model funding and other price cap areas that are most costly to serve. CAF II Auction payments began in 2019 on a rolling basis, with support terms running 10 years. CAF II Auction carriers have until the end of 2025 to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones.
- Alternative Connect America Cost Model (ACAM) – Provides set monthly payments based on a cost model to Rate of Return carriers to build broadband to a specific number of fixed locations in areas eligible for funding. The original ACAM support term runs from 2017 to 2026. ACAM carriers have until the end of 2026 to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones.
- Revised Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Revised ACAM) – Provides set monthly payments based on a cost model to Rate of Return carriers to build broadband to a specific number of fixed locations in areas eligible for funding. Revised ACAM increased model-based support for existing ACAM carriers to meet expanded broadband buildout obligations. The Revised ACAM support term runs from 2019 to 2028. Revised ACAM carriers have until the end of 2028 to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones.
- Alternative Connect America Cost Model II (ACAM II) – Provides set monthly payments based on a cost model to Rate of Return carriers that voluntarily elected to transition from CAF BLS funding to model-based support to build broadband to a specific number of fixed locations in areas eligible for funding. The ACAM II support term runs from 2017 to 2028. ACAM II carriers have until the end of 2028 to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones.
- Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (Enhanced ACAM) – Provides additional support over 15 years to carriers that were participating in other Connect America Fund (CAF) programs to deploy broadband service with speeds of at least 100 megabits per second downstream and 20 megabits per second upstream (100/20 Mbps). Payments begin in 2024 and Enhanced ACAM carriers have until Dec. 31, 2028, to complete deployment.
- Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS) – Provides support based on carrier costs and other financial data to Rate of Return carriers to build broadband to a specific number of fixed locations in areas eligible for funding. The CAF BLS support term runs from 2019 to 2023, and carriers must complete deployment by the end of 2023.
- Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) – Provides support to entities that successfully bid in a 2020 competitive reverse auction to deploy broadband at higher speeds and lower latency. RDOF Phase I payments began in 2021 on a rolling basis, with support terms running 10 years. RDOF recipients have up to eight years to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones.
- Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) – Provides funding to telecommunications carriers that successfully bid to deploy broadband in unserved price cap areas, including rural areas that are the most costly to serve. The RBE support term runs from 2015 to 2025. RBE carriers must meet interim and final deployment milestones on a rolling basis.
- Alaska Plan – Provides support to Rate of Return carriers to maintain, extend and upgrade broadband service across Alaska, with specific deployment obligations tailored to individual carriers to reflect the state’s unique climate and geography. The Alaska Plan support term runs from 2017 to 2026. Alaska Plan carriers have until the end of 2026 to complete deployment and were required to meet an interim, five-year service milestone established in each carrier’s individualized performance plan by the end of 2021.
- Bringing Puerto Rico Together (Uniendo a Puerto Rico) Fund and the Connect USVI Fund – Provides funding to support the restoration, expansion and upgrade of fixed and mobile communications networks throughout the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Mobility Fund – Provides support for the expansion of mobile broadband networks in areas that might otherwise not be served.