Release Notes 2020

This page is designed to communicate all major dataset and platform fixes, enhancements, and known issues/problems that USAC has addressed based on valuable USAC Open Data community user feedback. If you encounter any issues and problems please email us at opendata@usac.org. 

2020 Release Notes

Release Date – November 19, 2020

Update
New Fields Added to E-rate Open Data Sets for Entities and FRN Status
USAC added several fields to two open data sets as follows:
  • FCC Form 498 Form Number
  • FCC Form 498 Status Date Time
  • C2 Student Count Reporting Type
  • C2 District Student Count
  • C2 School Student Count
  • Entity subtype fields including Swing Space, Detention Center, and General-Use School
  • SPAC Filed?
  • Post Commitment Rationale
  • Revised FCDL Comment
Please reference the data set glossary in the Open Data Platform for field descriptions.

Release Date - November 12, 2020

New Dataset and Tool (Chart)
The Lifeline Disbursements tool and dataset provide information on total support dollars disbursed and total subscribers claimed by Eligible Telecommunication Carriers (ETCs) within the Lifeline Program by month and year since January 2018. This dataset displays an ETC’s Study Area Code (SAC) but does not include the Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN). If a search needs to be performed by SPIN, please refer to the legacy Funding Disbursement Search Tool, which includes all total support dollars disbursed and total subscribers claimed from 2004 to the present. If searching by "SPIN Name," please refer to the FCC Filings and use the most recent appendix to find the proper name.

Release Date - October 22, 2020

Update
The C2 Budget Tool FY2021+ and data set has been modified to reflect changes to EPC entity profile for C2 budget student counts. The full time student count is now derived based on the new field “Total Students for C2 Budget” or the “District Student Count” if the applicant decides to report a single student count number for a school district. Additional changes include the use of the C2 budget algorithm “Per Site Basis School District” for all school districts with 10 or less schools as this always provides the highest C2 budget if the applicant chooses not to report a single student count number for a school district.

Release Date - October 21, 2020

Update
 The following fields have been added to the RHC Commitments and Disbursements dataset.
·         Service Level Agreement
·         Packet Loss
·         Reliability
·         Jitter
·         Latency

Release Date - August 13, 2020

New Dataset & Tool (Chart)
The E-rate C2 Budget Tool FY2021+ is designed to assist applicants in determining their C2 budgets for each five-year cycle beginning with the first budget cycle, which starts in FY2021 and ends in FY2025. This tool and data set provides information about applicants’ C2 budgets based on the most recent entity profile and commitment data available, but does not capture all data points that may be relevant for determining an applicant’s actual available C2 budget at a certain point in time during each five-year cycle, such as pending appeals and FCC Forms 500. It should therefore be used for informational purposes only.

Release Date - August 12, 2020

Update
USAC modified this data set to ensure each service request is listed when there are duplicate records in a given FCC Form 470.  Prior to this change the dataset listed unique service requests and did not show multiple duplicate service requests enter by an applicant on their FCC Form 470.

Release Date - July 23, 2020

Update
The CAF Map Release 3.0 dataset displays the locations where carriers that receive CAF support had built out mass-market, high-speed Internet service based on data certified as of December 31, 2019 deployment in High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB) portal. Release 3.0 includes data from two additional funds – ACAM II and CAF Phase II Auction – bringing the total number of funds in the dataset to seven.

Please note that: 

1) ACAM locations currently in the dataset include locations funded by both the original ACAM program and Revised ACAM. Deployment obligation tracking still reflects the original ACAM program and is not yet updated to reflect Revised ACAM obligations.
2) Not all existing ACAM II locations are in the dataset yet since ACAM II carriers have until March 2021 to report pre-2019 deployment.
3) Some existing ACAM II locations deployed before 2019 currently show up as CAF-BLS locations since USAC is still migrating those locations to ACAM II.
4) Many existing CAF II Auction locations are not in the dataset yet since CAF II Auction carriers are not required to start filing deployment data with USAC until March 2021.
5) Deployment milestone tracking for Revised ACAM, ACAM II and CAF II Auction is not yet available.

Release Date – August 6, 2020

Update
The following Fund Types have been added:

Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund Mobile (PR Mobile)
Connect USVI Fund mobile support (USVI Mobile)

Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund Mobile data is identified as "PR Mobile", while Connect USVI Fund mobile support  is identified as "USVI Mobile". The "High Cost Disbursement Fund Type Glossary" file has been updated to reflect the 2 new funds.

Release Date - July 1, 2020

New Dataset
This dataset displays rates of eligible services under the Telecommunications (Telecom) Program for FY2021. The rates in the dataset are collected from several data sources such as Funding Request Forms (FCC Form 466, (Telecom Program), FCC Form 462 (Health Care Connect Fund (HCF)), FCC Form 471 (E-Rate), Tariff, and other approved sources by the FCC. The dataset can be used in calculating median rural and urban rates that can be entered into the FCC Form 466 application for the Telecom Program.

All information within the FCC Forms 462, 466, and 471 data collection is self-reported by applicants.

Release Date - January 16, 2020

New Dataset
The Rural Health Care Posted Services (FCC Form 461/465) dataset is now available. This dataset contains data allowing service providers to view service request information provided by individual Health Care Providers (HCPs) and consortia applying for funding through the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program. The data is collected from the FCC Forms 461 and 465, which includes the service request information.

All data contained within the FCC Form 461 (Request for Services Form, Health Care Connect Fund (HCF) program) and 465 (Description of Services Requested & Certification Form, Telecommunications program) is self-reported by applicants to RHC.

Previous Release Notes