Section 54.604 - Determining the urban rate(a) Effective funding year 2024:(1) If a rural health care provider requests support for an eligible service to be funded from the Telecommunications Program that is to be provided over a distance that is less than or equal to the "standard urban distance," as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, for the state in which it is located, the "urban rate" for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if it were provided between two points within the city.(2) If a rural health care provider requests an eligible service to be provided over a distance that is greater than the "standard urban distance," as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, for the state in which it is located, the urban rate for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service provided over the standard urban distance in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if the service were provided between two points within the city.(3) The "standard urban distance" for a state is the average of the longest diameters of all cities with a population of 50,000 or more within the state.(4) The Administrator shall calculate the "standard urban distance" and shall post the "standard urban distance" and the maximum supported distance for each state on its website.(b) As of funding year 2025, if a rural health care provider requests support for an eligible service to be funded from the Telecommunications Program the "urban rate" for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if it were provided between two points within the city. 88 FR 17395 , Mar. 23, 2023 84 FR 54979 , 11/12/2019; 88 FR 17395 , 3/23/2023; 88 FR 83830 , 12/1/2023; 89 FR 1845 , 2/12/2024