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About the Funds
The Connect America Fund (CAF) – a centerpiece of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Universal Service Fund (USF) High Cost program – aims to close the digital divide in rural America and ensure that consumers in rural communities have access to advanced communications networks and reliable, high-speed Internet service at rates reasonably comparable to those available in urban areas. The program consists of a series of modernized funds that rely mainly on competitive bidding and incentive-based models to give carriers a fixed amount of monthly support to deploy and maintain broadband networks with at least minimum speeds over a clear timeline – with interim and final deployment milestone deadlines – to a defined number of locations in unserved and underserved areas.
The Connect America Fund Broadband Map (CAF Map) displays the geographic areas that are eligible for CAF support, as well as the specific fixed locations where carriers participating in the program have built out mass-market, high speed Internet service. The data in the map include address, latitude and longitude coordinates, carrier name, filing year and available speeds meeting FCC obligations.
The information in this map comes directly from carriers, which report and certify broadband deployment data annually through USAC’s High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal. The current CAF Map is based on data certified in the HUBB as of March 06, 2024, to reflect broadband deployment through Dec. 31, 2023. USAC independently verifies deployment to a sample of locations reported in the HUBB each year to monitor carrier compliance with CAF build-out obligations.
The map currently contains broadband deployment data from carriers participating in the following Connect America Fund programs:
1. Connect America Fund Phase II Model (CAF II) 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.
2. Connect America Fund Phase II Auction (CAF II Auc) provides set monthly payments 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.
3. 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. Revised ACAM increased model-based support for existing ACAM carriers to meet expanded broadband buildout obligations. The Original ACAM support term – for carriers that elected to participate in the Original ACAM program, but not Revised ACAM – runs from 2017 to 2026. Original ACAM carriers have until the end of 2026 to complete deployment and must meet interim deployment milestones. 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. ACAM locations in the CAF Map include locations funded by both the Original and Revised ACAM programs.
4. Alternative Connect America Cost Model (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.
5. 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 deployment term ran from 2019 to 2023, and carriers were required to complete deployment by the end of 2023. Please note that not all existing CAF BLS locations are on the map since CAF BLS carriers do not report locations deployed before May 25, 2016, in the HUBB.
6. Rural Broadband Experiments (RBE) provides set monthly payments to telecommunications carriers that successfully bid to deploy broadband in unserved price cap areas, including rural areas that are the costliest to serve. The RBE support term runs from 2015 to 2025. RBE carriers must meet interim and final deployment milestones on a rolling basis.
7. Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) provides set monthly payments to entities that successfully bid in a 2020 competitive reverse auction to deploy broadband in certain areas that lack broadband service with speeds of at least 25 megabits per second downstream and 3 megabits per second upstream (25/3 Mbps). RDOF 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.
8. Alaska Plan (AK Plan) provides set monthly payments 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.
9. Bringing Puerto Rico Together (Uniendo a Puerto Rico) Fund and the Connect USVI Fund (PR/USVI Fixed) provide support to carriers to rebuild, expand and harden voice and broadband networks in all locations across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused massive damage in 2017. The CAF Map reflects deployment by carriers receiving PR/USVI Stage 2 fixed support, which funds the restoration, expansion and upgrade of fixed communications networks. The programs provide set monthly payments over a support term that runs from 2021 to 2031. Carriers have until the end of 2027 to complete deployment – with final deployment milestones by municipio in Puerto Rico – and must meet interim milestones. The current version of the map includes only locations deployed in Puerto Rico since carriers have not yet reported any locations deployed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
USAC updates the CAF Map twice a year with additional broadband deployment data filed and certified by carriers in the HUBB. Information in the map is also subject to change as carriers increase network speeds, revise geographic coordinates and address information and/or correct inaccuracies.
The Tribal Boundaries on the CAF Map reflect the definition of Tribal lands that the FCC adopted for the purpose of awarding ACAM II support. This means that the Tribal boundaries depicted include any federally recognized Indian Tribe’s reservation, pueblo or colony, including former reservations in Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlements Act (85 Stat. 688), Indian Allotments and Hawaiian Home Lands. The “former reservations in Oklahoma” are the geographic boundaries reflected in the Historical Map of Oklahoma, 1870-1890, (Oklahoma Historical Map, 1870-1890, Plate 6, Webb Publishing Company, Oklahoma City, OK (1917) (Copyright 1917, George Rainey, Enid, OK; Engraved George F. Cram Company, Chicago, IL)). The Hawaiian Home Lands are areas held in trust for Native Hawaiians by the state of Hawaii, pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921 (passed by Congress on July 9, 1921, 42 Stat. 108, et seq., as amended). Other Universal Service Fund programs, including other High Cost programs, or other federal, state, or local programs may consider different areas as Tribal lands. The Tribal Boundaries on this map should therefore not be used for determining eligibility for any program other than ACAM II.
Please note that in certain instances, the FCC cost model identifies areas as eligible for CAF support even though these areas appear to be in or near urban centers. In other instances, a carrier’s historic study area (service territory) crosses state lines, and locations deployed in one state therefore count towards deployment obligations in another state.
CAF Map is based on data certified in the HUBB as of March 06, 2024., for deployment through Dec. 31, 2023.
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