Datasets:

tensorust
/

caf-buildout-shortfall-sample

license: other
license_name: tensorust-sample-license
license_link: https://tensorust.com/datasets/caf-buildout-shortfall/
pretty_name: CAF Buildout Shortfall Register (free sample)
language:
  - en
tags:
  - tensorust
  - sample
  - telecom-fcc
  - government-data
  - finance
size_categories:
  - n<1K
configs:
  - config_name: sample
    data_files:
      - split: train
        path: sample.csv
  - config_name: summary
    data_files:
      - split: train
        path: summary_by_state.csv

CAF Buildout Shortfall Register: free sample (Tensorust LLC)

Every USF high-cost study area's buildout milestone, the locations short, and the support tied to the shortfall.

Headline: 225 of 2,797 high-cost study areas reported fewer deployed locations than their latest milestone requires: 245,815 locations short, tied to $269.6M of support at each area's own support per obligated location.

This repository is a free teaser, not the dataset. It holds 25 example rows and a summary table with no names in it. The full file has 2,797 rows and is sold by Tensorust LLC: https://tensorust.com/datasets/caf-buildout-shortfall/.

Files here

file	what it is
`sample.csv`	25 rows of the full file (the same sample shown on tensorust.com)
`summary_by_state.csv`	row counts and totals by state across the full file, no entity names (groups with fewer than 3 rows are folded into "Other")

Summary by state (largest groups)

State	rows	Shortfall locations
IA	346	1,074
MN	152	1,352
TX	136	6,080
OK	114	2,838
IL	114	2,933
WI	111	4,607
MO	102	6,090
NY	88	2,621
MI	77	27,032
NE	74	410
OH	73	7,075
KS	73	99
TOTAL	2,797	245,815

Full table: summary_by_state.csv.

What the full file has

2,797 rows
Key fields: state, fund, study_area_code, holding_company, carrier, latest_filing_year, obligated_speed_tier, milestone_percentage, milestone_locations_required, locations_deployed_cumulative
Parquet and CSV, a README with sources, method and limits, and the build script
Free 25-row sample (no personal contact data)

Coverage: Every fund, study area and speed tier in USAC's milestone dataset, latest filing year per row (mostly the 2025 HUBB filing). USAC data fetched Nov 6 2026 (2025 filing year)

Columns in the full file

column	meaning
`state`	State
`fund`	High-cost fund
`study_area_code`	USAC study area code
`holding_company`	Holding company
`carrier`	Carrier
`latest_filing_year`	Latest HUBB filing year
`obligated_speed_tier`	Obligated speed tier
`milestone_percentage`	Milestone percent of total obligation
`milestone_locations_required`	Locations required at the milestone
`locations_deployed_cumulative`	Locations deployed, cumulative
`shortfall_locations`	Locations short of the milestone
`pct_of_milestone`	Deployed divided by required
`support_disbursed_cumulative`	Cumulative high-cost support disbursed for the study area and fund
`full_obligation_est`	Estimated total location obligation (milestone divided by milestone percent)
`support_per_obligated_location`	Cumulative support divided by the study area's total estimated obligation across speed tiers
`support_at_shortfall`	Support attributable to the shortfall
`in_shortfall`	True when short of the milestone
`hc_shortfall_locations`	Holding company total shortfall locations
`hc_support_at_shortfall`	Holding company total support at shortfall
`hc_study_areas`	Holding company study areas
`hc_rdof_cafauc_money_at_risk`	Holding company RDOF and CAF II Auction money at risk for the Dec 31 2026 milestone (Tensorust usf-high-cost-milestones build)
`hc_withhold_2027_pace`	Holding company support withheld in 2027 at the 2025 build pace (same build)
`ontology_oid`	Tensorust ontology organization id (name match)
`source`	USAC Open Data milestone record

Get the full file

tier	price	includes
Carrier fleet file	from $950	One holding company: every study area with required and deployed locations, shortfall, support received, support attributable to the shortfall and the USAC source link. $950 (under $50K at risk), $1,900 ($50K to $250K), $4,500 ($250K to $1M), $9,500 ($1M to $5M), $14,500 ($5M and up).
State register	$2,500	Every high-cost study area in one state across all funds (ACAM, ACAM II, CAF II, CAF II Auction, CAF-BLS, EACAM, RDOF, AK Plan, RBE), for PUC staff and state broadband offices.
Full market dataset	$25,000 a year	All 2,797 study-area milestone rows nationwide with holding-company roll-ups, refreshed after the March 1 2027 HUBB filing and as USAC posts payments. For carrier counsel, lenders, acquirers and state offices.

Email mattbusel@tensorust.com with the tier and a billing contact, and we will send a proper invoice (ACH or card). The file is delivered once the invoice is paid. Details and the live sample: https://tensorust.com/datasets/caf-buildout-shortfall/. All datasets: https://tensorust.com/datasets/

Method and limits

Take the latest filing per fund, study area and speed tier, compare cumulative deployed locations with the milestone requirement, divide cumulative support by the estimated total obligation, multiply by the shortfall, roll up per holding company, join to the ontology by normalized name.

Not an FCC recovery order or the exact recovery amount (the rule applies tiered withholding and multipliers, and carriers can still build before a final milestone), not a HUBB filing, no regulatory advice, no contact data. Locations deployed in 2026 are not reported until the March 1 2027 filing.

Sources

USAC Open Data: high-cost milestones (99nv-p7fk) and support disbursed (hghw-69cg), fetched Nov 6 2026
47 CFR 54.320(d) milestone compliance and support recovery
Tensorust usf-high-cost-milestones build (RDOF and CAF II Auction money at risk)

License

The sample and summary here are free to view, analyze and cite with attribution to "Tensorust LLC, https://tensorust.com/datasets/caf-buildout-shortfall/". The full dataset is licensed separately per tier. No resale or redistribution of Tensorust data without a written license.

Tensorust LLC, Tuckahoe NY. mattbusel@tensorust.com | https://tensorust.com