Wireline Competition Bureau Provides Guidance Regarding ACAM Deployment Obligations

On July 12, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) released a Public Notice providing guidance and illustrative examples regarding calculation of final deployment obligations for those considering their 2nd ACAM offer. Among other things, the Bureau stated that if ACAM I & II recipients do not meet their obligations, USAC will recover “the percentage of support that is equal to 1.89 times the average amount of support per location received in the state for that carrier over the term of support for the relevant number of locations plus 10 percent of the eligible telecommunications carrier’s total relevant high-cost support over the support term for that state.” Of note, The Bureau also clarified that under the Tribal Broadband Factor, an ACAM recipient must “separately meet the deployment obligations for Tribal lands set forth in the A-CAM II offer in addition to the deployment obligations for the service area as a whole.”