104 
‘‘SEC. 254A. BROADBAND FOR UNSERVED AREAS PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab-
lish a new separate program to be known as the 
‘Broadband for Unserved Areas Program’. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program is 
to provide financial assistance for the deployment of 
broadband equipment and infrastructure necessary 
for the deployment of broadband service (including 
installation costs) to unserved areas throughout the 
United States. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING.—The Program shall be funded by 
amounts collected under section 254(d). 
‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 
date of enactment of the Internet and Universal Serv-
ice Act of 2006, the Commission shall issue rules es-
tablishing— 
‘‘(A) guidelines for determining which areas 
may be considered to be unserved areas for pur-
poses of this section, which may be portions of 
service areas or study areas; 
‘‘(B) criteria for determining which facili-
ties-based providers of broadband service and 
which projects are eligible for support from the 
Program; 
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105 
‘‘(C) procedural guidelines for awarding as-
sistance from the Program on a merit-based and 
competitive basis; 
‘‘(D) guidelines for application procedures, 
accounting and reporting requirements, and 
other appropriate fiscal controls for assistance 
made available from the Program, including 
random audits with respect to the receipt and 
use of funds under this section; 
‘‘(E) a procedure for making funds in the 
Program available among the several States on 
an equitable basis; and 
‘‘(F) the Universal Service Administrative 
Company as the administrator of the Program, 
subject to Commission rules and oversight. 
‘‘(2) 
FACILITIES-BASED
PROVIDER
ELIGI-
BILITY.—For purposes of this section, satellite 
broadband service providers, terrestrial wireless 
broadband service providers, and wireline broadband 
service providers shall be considered to be facilities- 
based providers eligible for support from the Program. 
The deployment of satellite broadband service cus-
tomer premises equipment shall be considered to be a 
project eligible for support from the Program. 
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‘‘(3) DE
MINIMIS
SUBSCRIBERSHIP
EXCEP-
TION.—The availability of satellite broadband service 
in an area shall not preclude the designation of that 
area as an unserved area if the Commission deter-
mines that subscribership to broadband satellite serv-
ice in the area is de minimis. 
‘‘(4) MULTIPLE
AREAS
WITHIN
STATE.—There 
may be more than 1 unserved area within a State. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUAL
AMOUNT.—Amounts obligated or 
expended under subsection (b) for any fiscal year may 
not exceed $500,000,000. 
‘‘(2) UNOBLIGATED
BALANCES.—To the extent 
that the full amount in the program is not obligated 
for financial assistance under this section within a 
fiscal year, any unobligated balance shall be used to 
support universal service under section 254. 
‘‘(3) SUPPORT LIMITED TO SINGLE FACILITIES- 
BASED PROVIDER PER UNSERVED AREA.—Assistance 
under this section may be provided only to 1 facili-
ties-based provider of broadband service in each 
unserved area. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATION WITH SECTION 410.—Section 410 
shall not apply to the Broadband for Unserved Areas Pro-
gram. 
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