(a) A service area may be eligible for assistance as follows:

(1) For loan and loan/grant combinations, the proposed funded service area is completely contained within a rural area. For loan guarantee applications, the proposed funded service area must be contained within an area with a population of 50,000 or less, as defined in 7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13);

(2) For loan/grant combinations, at least 90 percent of the households in the proposed service area must not have access to broadband service. For loans and loan guarantees, at least 50 percent of the households in the proposed service area must not have access to broadband service;

(3) No part of the proposed funded service area has three or more incumbent service providers; and

(4) No part of the proposed funded service area overlaps with the service area of current RUS borrowers or grantees with outstanding obligations. Notwithstanding, after October 1, 2020, the service areas of grantees that are providing service that is less than 10 Mbps downstream or less than 1 Mbps upstream will be considered unserved unless, at the time of the proposed application, the grantee has begun to construct broadband facilities that will meet the minimum acceptable level of service established in §1738.55.

(b) Non-contiguous areas in the same application will be considered separate service areas and must be treated separately for the purpose of determining service area eligibility. If one or more non-contiguous areas within an application are is determined to be ineligible, the Agency may consider the remaining areas in the application for eligibility.

(c) When determining the eligibility of a proposed funded service area, the Agency will use the information submitted through the public notice response (see §1738.106) as well as all available information collected through various means by the Agency, including but not limited to consultation with other Federal and State agencies and RUS' own site-specific assessment of the level of service in an area.

(d) Mobile and satellite services will not be considered in making the determination that households in the proposed service area do not have access to broadband service.