§ 54.310   Connect America Fund for Price Cap Territories--Phase II

   (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-wide
   commitment for five years. Connect America Phase II support awarded
   through a competitive bidding process shall be provided for ten years.

   (c) Deployment schedule. Recipients of Phase II funding must complete
   deployment to 85% of supported locations within three years of
   notification of Phase II support authorization and to 100% of supported
   locations within five years of notification of Phase II support
   authorization. For purposes of meeting the obligation to deploy to the
   requisite number of supported locations, incumbent price cap carriers
   accepting a state-level commitment may serve 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 § 54.309 for those locations, and provided
   that the total number of locations covered is greater than or equal to
   the number of locations in the eligible census blocks for which the
   state-level commitment is made.

   (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]

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