Connect America Fund Phase II Challenge Process 
September 25, 2013 
Agenda 
•Overview of the Challenge Process 
•Definition of a Connect America Fund Phase II 
Unsubsidized Competitor 
• Purpose of the Challenge Process 
• Timing and Steps in the Challenge Process 
–Initial List of Eligible Locations 
–Filing a Challenge 
–List of Challenged Blocks 
–Responding to a Challenge 
–Bureau Review 
 
 
 
 
 
2 
Overview of the Challenge Process 
• Phase II support should be targeted to areas not served 
by an unsubsidized competitor 
• Parties given opportunity to challenge whether or not an 
area is served by an unsubsidized competitor 
• Commission delegated authority to Bureau to implement 
• Phase II Challenge Process Order (DA 13-1113) (May 16, 
2013) 
• States are encouraged to participate in the process 
3 
What Is an Unsubsidized Competitor? 
• An unsubsidized competitor is a “facilities based provider 
of residential terrestrial fixed voice and broadband 
service that does not receive high-cost support.” 47 C.F.R. 
§ 54.5.  
 
4 
Unsubsidized Competitor 
Sp
ee
d
 
Laten
cy 
U
sage 
P
rice
 
Facilities B
ased
 
R
esid
en
tial 
Terrestrial 
Fixed
 
N
o
 H
igh
-C
o
st Su
p
p
o
rt 
V
o
ice
 
B
ro
ad
b
an
d
 
Why Do We Need a Challenge Process? 
•National Broadband Map offers data on speed, fixed, and 
terrestrial requirements 
–Lag time 
• A location that becomes served after the last update of the National 
Broadband Map counts as served 
–Gaps in National Broadband Map reporting 
–Limited data available on other criteria 
• No data on facilities based, residential, no high-cost support, or other non-
speed broadband criteria (usage allowance, latency, price) 
• Challenge process can address these issues 
 
5 
Timing of Challenge Process 
6 
The Initial List 
• Blocks initially determined to be eligible for support will 
appear on list issued by the Bureau 
• To be eligible for Phase II support, a census block must: 
–Be above the lower funding threshold 
–Be below the extremely high-cost threshold 
–Be unserved by an unsubsidized competitor 
7 
Determining Whether a Census Block Is Served 
•Data Sources: National Broadband Map and FCC Form 
477 
• Two elements must be met for a census block to be 
presumed served by an unsubsidized competitor: 
–National Broadband Map shows census block as served 
by terrestrial, fixed service with speeds of 3 Mbps/768 
kbps or higher 
–Provider offering broadband is shown on Form 477 as 
offering voice service in the state where the census 
block is located 
8 
Presumptions on Service 
• Providers meeting the known criteria (voice, speed, fixed, 
terrestrial) will be presumed to meet the remaining 
criteria: 
–Broadband non-speed criteria (usage allowance, 
latency, price) 
–Facilities based 
–Residential 
•Without presumption, thousands of providers would be 
required to file with the Commission 
 
 
9 
Partially Served Census Blocks 
• Partially served blocks are treated as 100 percent served 
for purposes of Phase II 
• If one location in a block is served, the entire block is 
treated as served 
• Same standard applies in the challenge process 
–For a block to be unserved, challenger must show that ALL of the 
locations fail to meet AT LEAST ONE of the criteria 
–For a block to be served, challenger must show that AT LEAST 
ONE of the locations meets ALL of the criteria 
10 
Filing a Challenge 
• Anyone (including states) can challenge a location 
•OMB has approved Form 505 for challenges 
11 
Connect America Phase II Challenge Process Form 
OMB Control Number 3060-1188 
FCC Form 505 
Filing Entity: 
FRN (if applicable): 
Name of Person Filling Out Form: 
Mailing Address of Person Filling Out Form: 
Email Address of Person Filling Out Form: 
Phone Number of Person Filling Out Form: 
Name of Person Certifying Data within Form: 
Mailing Address of Person Certifying Data within Form: 
Email Address of Person Certifying Data within Form: 
Phone Number of Person Certifying Data within Form: 
Challenging a Location Identified as Served 
• Challenge seeks to add block to the list of blocks eligible 
for funding by claiming that block is in fact unserved 
•Need only identify one requirement not being met (for all 
locations in the census block) 
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Census 
Block 15 
Digit 
FIPS 
Code State 
Provider 
Name As 
Listed in 
National 
Broadband 
Map 
In
sert X
 if S
p
eed
 C
riteria 
N
o
t M
et 
In
sert X
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sag
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llo
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C
riteria N
o
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In
sert X
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aten
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In
sert X
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rice C
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M
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In
sert X
 if V
o
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riteria 
N
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t M
et 
Type of 
Supporting 
Evidence 
Additional 
Comments 
                    
                    
                    
Census Block Identifying Information 
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Census Block 
15 Digit FIPS 
Code State 
Provider Name As 
Listed in National 
Broadband Map 
    
      
      
      
      
      
      
 181410113021011 
 
FIPS Codes 
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181410113021011 
STATE TRACT COUNTY BLOCK 
Census Block Identifying Information 
15 
Census Block 
15 Digit FIPS 
Code State 
Provider Name As 
Listed in National 
Broadband Map 
 181410113021011 
 
  
  
      
      
      
      
      
      
IN Clay Cable  Company 
IN Colonial Wireless  181410113021011 
 
Challenged Service Criteria 
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In
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C
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C
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C
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In
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C
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Broadband Service Criteria 
• Speed – Provider is not offering 4 Mbps/1 Mbps 
•Usage Allowance – Provider is not offering usage 
allowances reasonable comparable to what is offered for 
terrestrial, residential service in urban areas 
• Latency – Provider’s latency is not sufficiently low to 
allow for the use of real-time apps such as VoIP 
• Price – Provider’s price is not reasonably comparable to 
the rates available in urban areas for comparable service 
17 
Voice Service Criteria 
• Voice – Provider isn’t offering its own voice telephony 
service 
–Voice grade access to the PSTN or its functional equivalent, 
minutes of use for local service provided at no additional charge 
to end users, toll limitation to qualifying low income consumers, 
and access to 911/E911 
–“Own” voice service – Would the subscriber conclude that voice 
and broadband services are provided by the same entity 
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Other Criteria 
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In
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et Type of Supporting 
Evidence Additional Comments 
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
No Residential Service 
Does Not Serve Block 
Advertising materials A 
Advertising materials B 
Challenging a Location Identified as Served 
• A block on initial list should not be funded because it’s 
already served by an unsubsidized competitor 
20 
Census 
Block 
15 Digit 
FIPS 
Code State 
Name of 
Entity 
Providing 
Service 
FRN used to 
File Form 
477 (if 
challenge 
being filed 
by the 
service 
provider) 
Insert an X if you certify that 
this census block is served by 
unsubsidized broadband and 
voice services meeting the 
Commission's performance 
and pricing criteria. 
Type of 
Supporting 
Evidence 
Additional 
Comments 
              
              
              
              
Evidentiary Requirements 
• All challenges must be supported by evidence! 
• The Bureau will not consider challenges unsupported by 
evidence 
• Any type of evidence may be used 
• Same evidence may be used for multiple blocks 
 
 
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In
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C
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C
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et Type of Supporting 
Evidence Additional Comments 
           Advertising Materials #1  Only offering 768/200 
          
 Advertising Materials #1 
  Only offering 768/200 
Sub-Census Block Challenges 
• Sub-census block challenges are not allowed 
• Partially served census block will be treated as 100 
percent served 
• Served-to-Unserved challenge must contend that the 
block is completely unserved – cannot contend that an 
existing provider serves only part of the census block 
•Unserved-to-Served challenge only needs to show 
provider is serving at least one location in a census block 
– entire block will be treated as served 
 
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Accuracy and Due Diligence Certification 
23 
Accuracy and Due Diligence Certification 
All Filers Must Fill Out 
    
By initialing below, I certify that all statements contained in the  attached form are true and 
accurate to the best of my knowledge, and  that I have undertaken due diligence to obtain 
knowledge regarding these claims. 
    
Certifier's Initials: 
Date:   
Service Certification 
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Notice of Challenge Certification 
(Served to Unserved and Unserved to Served Challengers Fill Out One of the Following 
Blocks - Respondents Do Not Fill Out) 
Service of Notice Successful 
By initialing below, I certify that notice of this challenge has been served on 
all interested parties.   
Certifier's Initials: 
Date: 
Service of Notice Unsuccessful 
By initialing below I certify that, following a good faith effort, I was unable to serve notice of 
this challenge on all interested parties due to lack of information regarding the address of 
such parties. 
Name of Party/Parties that 
Could Not Be Served: 
Certifier's Initials: 
Date:   
Serving Notice and Filing 
• Serving Notice 
–Parties must make a good faith effort to serve a copy of their 
challenges on interested parties 
–Who is an “interested party”? 
• Served-to-Unserved – Any provider (listed under “Provider Name”) 
• Unserved-to-Served – Incumbent 
–Challenger must certify that notice was given or, if it was unable 
to give notice, that a good faith effort was made to do so 
• Filing 
–File on ECFS and send a native, machine readable copy to a 
designated Commission staff member 
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The Challenged List 
• Bureau reviews all filed challenges to ensure a prima facie 
standard has been met 
•What constitutes a prima facie challenge? 
–Form 505 is properly filed out 
–All required certifications have been made 
–Challenger provided evidence with the challenge 
• Bureau will publish a list of all census blocks for which a 
prima facie challenge is made  
26 
Responding to a Challenge 
• 45 days to respond to challenged census blocks 
•Not an opportunity to challenge new blocks – may only 
respond to blocks that are on the challenged list 
• Anyone (including states) may file a response 
• Responses are also filed on Form 505 
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Census 
Block 
15 Digit 
FIPS 
Code State 
Name of 
Entity 
Making 
Initial 
Challenge 
FRN of 
Entity 
Making 
Initial 
Challenge 
(if 
provided) 
In
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Issu
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In
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rice C
riteria is at 
Issu
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In
sert X
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o
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riteria is at 
Issu
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Type of 
Supporting 
Evidence 
Additional 
Comments 
                      
Responding to a Served to Unserved Challenge 
• Check the boxes of the criteria at issue 
• Respondent does not need to respond to criteria that 
were not challenged 
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In
sert X
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p
eed
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riteria is at 
Issu
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In
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C
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Issu
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In
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rice C
riteria is at Issu
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In
sert X
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o
ice C
riteria is at Issu
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Type of 
Supporting 
Evidence 
Additional 
Comments 
           Affidavit #1   
Affidavit #1 
Customer Records 
Only Speed Challenged 
Latency & Usage Challenged 
All Criteria Challenged 
Responding to Unserved to Served Challenges 
• Respondent only need to respond to one criterion 
29 
In
sert X
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p
eed
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riteria is at Issu
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In
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C
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In
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In
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o
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riteria is at Issu
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Type of 
Supporting 
Evidence 
Additional 
Comments 
          
Advertising 
Materials   
Customer 
Statement 
Engineering Study 
Responses: Evidence, Certifications, and Filing 
• All responses must be supported by evidence 
• Responses must include the certification that statements 
are true and accurate 
•No requirement to provide notice to interested parties - 
no opportunity to rebut responses, so notice is 
unnecessary 
• File both on ECFS and with the designated Commission 
staff member 
30 
Wireline Competition Bureau Review 
• Bureau will review all challenges that make a prima facie 
case and responses that are received 
• Bureau does not intend to consider advocacy outside of 
the challenge process 
• If a challenge is successful, the Bureau will change cost 
model’s designation of the block for the purposes of the 
Phase II state-level commitment 
• Bureau will publish finalized list of eligible census blocks 
31 
Recap 
• Covered today: 
–Timing of process 
–How to file challenges and responses on Form 505 
–How the Bureau will act on challenges and responses 
• States are encouraged to monitor and participate in the 
challenge process 
32 
Questions? 
33 
Thank You! 
34