Price Cap Carriers
Counties Where Lower Speed TDM-Based Business Data Services Offered by Price Cap Carriers Are Deemed Competitive, Non-Competitive, or Grandfathered
On May 15, 2017, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice announcing the public release of lists of counties and county-equivalents where lower speed DS1 and DS3 end user channel terminations and certain other lower speed TDM-based business data services provided by price cap incumbent local exchange carriers are deemed competitive, non-competitive, or grandfathered pursuant to the Price Cap Business Data Services Order. The lists resulted from the competitive market test adopted in the Business Data Services Order that deregulated counties according to either of one of two conditions based on (1) locations served over the facilities of a competitive provider as reported in the 2015 business data services data collection and (2) census blocks in which cable operators provided broadband at minimum bandwidths of 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload according to the Commission’s Form 477 reports.
Parties may access the county lists at the following links: Price Cap Results Word | PDF | Excel
On January 31, 2020, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice releasing a supplemental list of counties served by price cap incumbent local exchange carriers newly deemed competitive effective January 31, 2020 pursuant to the Price Cap Business Data Services Order. The list resulted from the triennial update to the competitive market test results mandated by the Price Cap Business Data Services Order that deregulated competitive counties where 75% of the census blocks within the county report broadband connection availability by a cable operator at minimum bandwidths of 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload based on the Commission’s Form 477 reports as of December 31, 2018. This list supplements the price cap county lists announced in the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Public Notice released May 15, 2017.
Parties may access the supplemental price cap county list released January 31, 2020 at the following links:
Price Cap Updates Word | PDF | Excel
In addition, the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code is included to help identify the geographic area of each county and county equivalent.
On January 27, 2023, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice releasing an additional supplemental list of counties served by price cap incumbent local exchange carriers newly deemed competitive effective January 27, 2023. As before, this list resulted from the triennial update to the competitive market test results mandated by the Price Cap Business Data Services Order, and further supplements the price cap county lists announced in the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Public Notices released May 15, 2017 and January 31, 2020.
Parties may access the supplemental price cap county list released January 31, 2023 at the following links: 2023 Price Cap Update Word | PDF | TXT
Rate-of-Return Carriers
Study Areas where Lower Speed TDM-Based Business Data Services Offered by a Rate-of-Return Carrier Receiving Fixed Support Are Deemed Competitive
On October 25, 2018, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice announcing the public release of a list of study areas where lower speed DS1 and DS3 end user channel terminations and certain other lower speed TDM-based business data services provided by rate-of-return carriers eligible to elect incentive regulation pursuant to the Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Order are deemed competitive. The list resulted from the competitive market test adopted in the Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Order that eliminated ex ante pricing regulation for electing rate-of-return study areas based on a percentage of census blocks in which cable operators provided broadband at minimum bandwidths of 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload according to the Commission’s Form 477 reports.
Parties may access the study area list at the following links: Rate of Return Results Word | PDF | Excel
The Wireline Competition Bureau’s Public Notice released on January 31, 2020 also released a supplemental list of study areas served by eligible rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers newly deemed competitive effective upon their July 1, 2020 tariff filing electing incentive regulation for their business data services pursuant to the Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Order. The list resulted from the initial update to the competitive market test adopted in the Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Order that eliminated ex ante pricing regulation for electing rate-of-return study areas based on whether 75% of the census blocks within the study area are served by a cable operator offering a minimum of 10/1 Mbps broadband service based on the Commission’s Form 477 reports as of December 30, 2018. This list supplements the rate-of-return study area list announced in the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Public Notice released October 25, 2018.
Parties may access the supplemental rate-of-return study area list released January 31, 2020 at the following links: Rate-of-Return Word | PDF | Excel
On January 27, 2023, the Wireline Competition Bureau issued a Public Notice releasing an additional supplemental list of study areas served by eligible rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers newly deemed competitive effective January 27, 2023. As before, this list resulted from the triennial update to the competitive market test adopted in the Rate-of-Return Business Data Services Order, and further supplements the rate-of-return study area list announced in the Wireline Competition Bureau’s public notices released October 25, 2018 and January 31, 2020.
Parties may access the supplemental rate-of-return study area list released January 31, 2023 at the following links: 2023 Rate-of-Return Update Word | PDF | TXT