High Cost Program Disbursements by Month and Carrier

Monthly and yearly disbursement amounts from the FCC's High Cost Program to Eligible Telecommunication Carriers (ETCs). The tool provides data for the current year and the previous 10 years, as reported by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Older data is available upon request from USAC.

Use Cases

• Analyzing trends in 'Amount Disbursed' by 'State' or 'Study Area Name' over 'Month' and 'Year' to assess regional funding allocation.
• Aggregating disbursements by 'Fund Type' (e.g., Connect America Cost Model, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund) to compare subsidy program expenditures.
• Tracking funding for specific carriers over time using the 'FCC Form 498 ID' and 'Study Area Code' fields.
• Modeling seasonal patterns in disbursements by analyzing the 'Month' column against the 'Amount Disbursed'.

Strengths

• Covers 11 years of data (current year plus previous 10), providing a multi-year time series.
• Includes 8 distinct columns for granular analysis of fund type, geography, carrier, and timing.

Limitations

• Exact row count and total data size are unknown, limiting assessment of scope.
• Data older than 11 years is not directly accessible and requires a manual request.

Provenance

Source

Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) via datahub.usac.org.

Collection Method

Administrative data from the High Cost Program, likely reported by carriers via FCC Form 498.

Time Range

Current year and previous 10 years (exact start year not specified).

Freshness

Updated as of March 27, 2026, indicating regular maintenance.

Geography

United States, with granularity to the 'State' and 'Study Area' level.