(a) Carriers eligible for extended support. A competitive eligible telecommunications carrier previously receiving support for remote Alaska pursuant to § 54.317(e) shall be eligible for extended support, if in compliance with other eligibility requirements.

(1) An Alaska Plan mobile provider that opts into the Alaska Connect Fund may have its Alaska Connect Fund support delayed, or may be deemed ineligible to participate in the Alaska Connect Fund, if the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau determines that the mobile provider has failed to comply with the public interest obligations or other terms and conditions of the Alaska Plan or its Alaska Plan commitments, or failed to meet an Alaska Plan build-out milestone.

(2) The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau may determine whether an Alaska Plan mobile provider is ineligible for the Alaska Connect Fund, ineligible for specific coverage areas, or will have its Alaska Connect Fund support delayed until it meets its outstanding obligations, based on the mobile provider's compliance with Alaska Plan and Broadband Data Collection obligations.

(b) Election of extended support. Subject to the requirements of this section, competitive eligible telecommunications carriers receiving support for mobile service pursuant to § 54.317(e) may opt into an extension of that support under the Alaska Connect Fund by submitting their performance plans, consistent with the requirements of this section, on or before September 1, 2026, to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau for approval. Mobile providers exercising this option with approved performance plans shall have extended support beginning on January 1, 2027. Mobile providers receiving support pursuant to § 54.317(e) that do not opt into extended ACF support will have their support end with the Alaska Plan on December 31, 2026, as set forth in paragraph (i) of this section.

(c) Eligible areas—(1) Areas eligible for support. Extended support under the Alaska Connect Fund may be used to support mobile service in all of Alaska, except:

(i) Previously ineligible areas under the Alaska Plan

(A) Nonremote areas, as defined in § 54.307(e)(3)(i);

(B) Areas as of December 31, 2014, that received 4G LTE service directly from mobile providers that were either unsubsidized or ineligible to claim the delayed phase down under § 54.307(e)(3) and covering, in the aggregate, at least 85 percent of the population of the census block;

(ii) Competitive areas, as defined as:

(A) Areas with an unsubsidized mobile provider offering 5G-NR service at minimum speeds of 7/1 Mbps in an outdoor stationary environment based on mobile providers' Broadband Data Collection availability data as of December 31, 2024; or

(B) Areas with three or more mobile providers—with at least one of those mobile providers being unsubsidized—offering at least 4G LTE service at minimum speeds of 5/1 Mbps in an outdoor stationary environment based on mobile providers' Broadband Data Collection availability data as of December 31, 2024.

(iii) Areas deemed inaccessible or unsafe for testing by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics, and reflected in the Eligible-Areas Map, as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section.

(2) Eligible-areas map. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics will publish a map or maps of which areas are eligible and ineligible for Alaska Connect Fund mobile support, and of those that are eligible, which are in duplicate-support areas, single-support areas, or other eligible areas, as defined in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. The map or maps will identify all such areas on a resolution 9 hexagon (hex-9) basis using the H3 standardized geospatial indexing system as defined in 47 Cspan 1.7001(a)(20). Competitive eligible telecommunications carriers seeking mobile support under the Alaska Connect Fund must use the Eligible-areas map to determine the areas in Alaska that are eligible for support. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics may resolve any disputes that may arise over the classification of an area and may periodically update the map(s) throughout the course of the Alaska Connect Fund, as necessary. Providers are to communicate which areas should be deemed ineligible by emailing [email protected] as soon as such areas are known by the provider.

(d) Support amounts and support term. Support for Alaska Connect Fund will begin January 1, 2027, and the initial support under the Alaska Connect Fund will act as an extension of support (extended support) to Alaska Connect Fund single- and duplicate-support areas after the Alaska Plan ends.

(1) Areas. (i) Support areas are areas covered by one Alaska Plan mobile-provider participant.

(ii) Duplicate-support areas are areas covered by two or more Alaska Plan mobile provider participants.

(iii) Eligible areas that are not identified as a duplicate-support or single-support areas will be noted as “other eligible areas,” until otherwise classified throughout the course of the Alaska Connect Fund.

(iv) Areas that are ineligible under the Alaska Connect Fund are not considered to be single- or duplicate-support areas, and mobile participants under the Alaska Connect Fund cannot use their support to provide mobile service in these areas.

(2) Extended support. (i) Single-support areas will receive extended support until December 31, 2034.

(ii) Duplicate-support areas will receive extended support until December 31, 2029, unless otherwise extended by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

(e) Use of support. Support allocated through the Alaska Connect Fund may only be used to provide mobile voice and mobile broadband service in eligible areas. Alaska Connect Fund recipients may use their support for both operating expenses and capital expenses for deploying, upgrading, and maintaining mobile voice and broadband-capable networks, including middle-mile improvements needed to those ends. As long as an Alaska Connect Fund recipient is providing service to its awarded area consistent with its public interest obligations service expenditures in that area will be eligible for support. Expenditures for middle-mile facilities may occur outside of eligible areas, so long as they are necessary to provide mobile voice and broadband service in the areas where the Alaska Connect Fund recipient receives support.

(f) Performance plans. In order to receive extended support pursuant to this section, a competitive eligible telecommunications carrier must be subject to a performance plan approved by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. The performance plan must indicate specific deployment obligations and performance requirements sufficient to demonstrate that support is being used in the public interest and in accordance with this section and the requirements adopted by the Commission for the Alaska Connect Fund.

(1) Performance plans must:

(i) Include the name of the census tract(s) the mobile provider commits to serve;

(ii) Include the minimum technology level and speed in an outdoor stationary environment the mobile provider commits to provide;

(iii) Specify the number of hex-9s committed to be covered within each census tract at the committed-to technology and speed levels, which shall be no less than the mobile provider's coverage in the Alaska Plan, minus any ineligible areas; and

(iv) Specify the number of additional hex-9s committed to within each census tract at the committed-to technology and speed levels that are comparable hex-9s as described in paragraph (h) of this section.

(2) A mobile provider must commit to cover any eligible hex-9 in its support area and may commit to cover any eligible hex-9 not covered by other mobile providers.

(3) Providers are to reflect the additional coverage that is required to retain support due to areas being deemed ineligible solely in the comparable hex-9 category of their performance plans, consistent with paragraph (h) of this section.

(4) The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will adopt requirements and develop data specifications, after appropriate public process, concerning the format and method of uploading Alaska Connect Fund performance plans.

(5) Alaska Connect Fund performance plan submissions are due September 1, 2026. Separate performance plans are required for single-support areas and for duplicate-support areas. A mobile provider's Alaska Connect Fund support may not begin until the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau approves the performance plan of the mobile provider. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau may require the filing of revised commitments at other times if justified by developments that occur after the approval of the initial performance commitments, including requiring, after notice and comment, additional commitments in duplicate-support areas that must be met by December 31, 2034, if Alaska Connect Fund Mobile Phase I is extended in those areas.

(6) Where technically and financially feasible, providers in single-support areas are expected to extend 5G service to populations who are currently served by 4G LTE or less, and providers in duplicate-support areas are expected to work to extend by the end of December 2029 at least 4G LTE at 5/1 Mbps in an outdoor stationary environment to areas where they do not currently offer it. For single-support areas, providers participating in the Alaska Connect Fund are expected to use Alaska Connect Fund support to upgrade service beyond the service commitment level they made in the Alaska Plan, with an ultimate goal of achieving 5G NR at 35/3 Mbps in single-support areas, where technically and financially feasible, by the end of December 2034. Providers in single-support areas are to report to WTB the progress they have made beyond Alaska Plan service levels by December 31, 2029, and to meet their commitments by the December 31, 2031, interim milestone and the December 31, 2034, final milestone.

(7) The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau may approve lower technology and speeds than the minimum technology and speeds specified in this section, in some areas as warranted on a case-by-case basis. A mobile provider must explicitly state the reason it cannot commit to the minimum deployment requirement as a notation under the proposed performance plan for each census tract. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has discretion to determine whether the request is adequately justified and if so, to approve the performance plan. If conditions change such that a mobile provider no longer qualifies for lesser commitments in a census tract, the provider must submit additional information and updated performance plans into the Alaska Connect Fund docket via the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System. Where conditions have changed, the mobile provider must submit, for the affected census tracts:

(i) A description of the change;

(ii) The date on which the change occurred;

(iii) The resolution 9 hexagons (hex-9s) using the H3 standardized geospatial indexing system as defined in 47 Cspan 1.7001(a)(20) within the census tract that could be served as a result of the changed conditions; and

(iv) Revised performance commitments factoring in the change. These filings must be made simultaneously with the submission of the FCC Form 481. A mobile provider may seek confidential treatment of information required in this section if the conditions for confidentiality are met.

(8) Initial Alaska Connect Fund performance plans must rely on Broadband Data Collection availability data and data standards on which the National Broadband Map is based and on mobile providers' availability data in Alaska as of December 31, 2024. Consistent with Broadband Data Collection requirements, as provided in 47 Cspan 1.7004, all Alaska Connect Fund mobile support recipients must show that consumers can receive the minimum technology level and speed with a cell edge probability of not less than 90% and a cell loading of not less than 50%.

(9) If any mobile providers do not have their performance plans approved by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau by December 31, 2026, those mobile providers' support may be delayed.

(10) No later than 60 days after the end of each participating mobile provider's commitment (milestone) deadline, it must submit a certification that it has met the obligations contained in the performance plan approved by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, including any obligations pursuant to a revised approved performance plan, and that it has met the requisite public interest obligations contained in the Alaska Connect Fund Order.

(11) The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau may raise the technology and performance floor, as appropriate, after opportunity for public notice and comment, during the course of the Alaska Connect Fund.

(g) Deemed covered. The geographic areas identified as eligible for support for Alaska Connect Fund mobile recipients will be made available by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics in the Eligible-Areas Map defined in paragraph (c)(2) of this section in the form of hexagons at the resolution 9 level (hex-9s) using the H3 standardized geospatial indexing system as defined in 47 Cspan 1.7001(a)(20).

(1) Hex-9s will be deemed covered using the following process:

(i) Overlay resolution 11 hexagons (hex-11s) on the “raw” mobile coverage polygons submitted in the Broadband Data Collection in Alaska. If the centroid (i.e., the geographic center point) of the hex-11 overlaps any of those boundaries, then the entire hex-11 is considered covered by that boundary and “served”.

(ii) Divide the number of served grandchild hex-11s belonging to the grandparent hex-9 by the total number of grandchild hex-11s belonging to the grandparent hex-9 to determine the percentage of the hex-9 that is considered served. The centroid of a hex-11 must fall within the boundary of Alaska to be included in this calculation.

(iii) If at least 70% of the grandchild hex-11s belonging to a grandparent hex-9 are served, then the entire hex-9 will be considered served.

(h) Comparable areas. Mobile providers that received support under the Alaska Plan for coverage of newly ineligible areas and that wish to retain their support level must use their Alaska Connect Fund support to cover a comparable number of otherwise uncovered hex-9s elsewhere, subject to claw back in their support if they do not do so. Mobile providers must incorporate their comparable areas into their performance plans under the Alaska Connect Fund for Wireless Telecommunications Bureau approval. Specifically, each mobile provider must remove the ineligible hex-9s from its commitment, and in a separate category in the performance plan, specify how many comparable hex-9s it commits to cover, by census tract.

(1) For areas where a mobile provider may lose support because an area is deemed ineligible after the provider's Alaska Connect Fund performance plan has been approved, the mobile provider will have an opportunity to retain support by committing to cover a comparable number of uncovered hex-9s elsewhere. As mobile providers discover ineligible hex-9s after their performance plans are approved, they must remove those ineligible hex-9s from their hex-9 commitments in their performance plans and reflect the new number of comparable hex-9s in the comparable hex-9 commitments category in their new, proposed performance plans. The mobile provider must submit new performance plans whenever they need new comparable hex-9s approved. The mobile provider must provide a notation in the performance plan for the comparable hex-9s, identifying which census tracts the ineligible hex-9s are located and how many of those hex-9s are being replaced by any particular group of comparable hex-9s. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics, may require additional clarifying information that allows identification and determination of which comparable hex-9s are replacing which group of ineligible hex-9s. All inaccessible hex-9s and updated performance plans must be reported before their buildout milestones.

(2) Where a mobile provider commits to cover the same number of uncovered hex-9s as the area that was newly deemed ineligible, the coverage shall be deemed comparable.

(3) Where a mobile provider claims that fewer uncovered hex-9s should be deemed as comparable to the number of hex-9s deemed ineligible, the provider must provide justification that the smaller number of hex-9s is comparable to the number of hex-9s that the provider was using support to cover. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics, may determine whether a mobile provider is covering a comparable number of hex-9s.

(4) Once approved, comparable areas will be treated as part of the mobile provider's single-support areas, subject to the deployment obligations and performance requirements that apply for those areas.

(5) Where an Alaska Connect Fund mobile support recipient covers a new, uncovered hex-9, it will be considered a single-support area attributed to the mobile provider that showed coverage to that hex-9 first, based on Broadband Data Collection availability data, or, in case more than one mobile provider provided coverage for the same area in the same data set or one provider's earlier filed data is deemed inaccurate, whichever provider has its updated performance plan accepted first. Where two providers cover the same hex-9 and one provider claims that the area is inaccessible for testing, but the other provider does not, the area would become a part of the latter provider's single-support area, and the former provider would have to cover the same number of hex-9s elsewhere.

(6) If a mobile provider discovers that some areas are inaccessible during required speed testing or during an audit, the mobile provider will be in noncompliance for those hex-9s, and potentially additional hex-9s if the inaccessible hex-9s were selected through random sampling. If this noncompliance is discovered for the interim milestone testing, the mobile provider may identify, in an updated performance plan, comparable hex-9s that it will serve.

(i) Phase down. Phase down schedule for mobile competitive eligible telecommunications carrier Alaska Connect Fund extended support.

(1) Mobile providers subject to phase down or proportional phase down shall have phase down occur on the following schedule:

(i) For the first twelve months after the phase down start date, each such competitive eligible telecommunications carrier shall receive two-thirds of the monthly support amount the carrier received pursuant to the Alaska Plan.

(ii) For the thirteenth through twenty-fourth months after the phase down start date, each such competitive eligible telecommunications carrier shall receive one-third of the monthly support amount the carrier received pursuant to the Alaska Plan.

(iii) By the twenty-fifth month, no such competitive eligible telecommunications carrier shall receive universal service support pursuant to this section.

(2) Competitive eligible telecommunications carriers providing mobile service that receive support under the Alaska Plan pursuant to § 54.317(e), and that are eligible to receive extended support under this section but do not opt in to receive extended support pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section, shall have their high-cost support end with Alaska Plan on December 31, 2026.

(3) Competitive eligible telecommunications carriers previously receiving mobile support pursuant to § 54.317(e) for an area newly ineligible under the Alaska Connect Fund that do not have an updated performance plan approved by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau with comparable areas for the Alaska Connect Fund will have their proportional support phased down, beginning 90 days after being notified by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau that they are receiving support in an ineligible area or by January 1, 2027, whichever is later. Competitive eligible telecommunications carriers that have new performance plans with comparable areas approved by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau may receive restoration of the support that was phased down for the areas that the comparable areas replaced.

(4) If a mobile provider's updated performance plan is not approved within 90 days of the mobile provider being notified that it is covering ineligible hex-9s because those hex-9s cannot be tested, then the mobile provider will have a proportional amount of support phased down. If the mobile provider's updated performance plan for covering comparable hex-9s is approved after 90 days, it may have any support that was phased down restored.

(5) Competitive eligible telecommunication carriers providing mobile service that receive support under the Alaska Plan pursuant to § 54.317(e) but are found by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to be ineligible for extended support under the Alaska Connect Fund, shall not have their high cost support for mobile services phased down. Their support under the Alaska Plan will be terminated as of December 31, 2026. If the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau determines that an Alaska Plan mobile provider did not meet its Alaska Plan buildout obligations after the commencement of the Alaska Connect Fund, and also determines that the mobile provider is not eligible to receive Alaska Connect Fund mobile support, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau can take all actions necessary to recover Alaska Connect Fund support, including those set forth in § 54.320(c) and (d). This does not impact any separate actions related to § 54.320(c) and (d) with respect to the Alaska Plan final milestone.

(j) Annual submission of BDC infrastructure data. (1) A mobile provider must submit, on an annual basis, all of the infrastructure data that it would submit as part of the Broadband Data Collection mobile verification process, as provided in 47 Cspan 1.7006(c), for all infrastructure used to serve its supported area for coverage as of December 31 of each year, due by March 1 of the following year.

(2) Mobile providers must submit these infrastructure data to the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau, subject to any additional or amended instructions.

(k) Submission of speed test data. (1) A mobile provider receiving more than $5 million annually in Alaska Connect Fund support must submit speed test data along with its certification that it has met its milestone Alaska Connect Fund commitments.

(2) The speed test data must conform to the Broadband Data Collection Specifications for Mobile Speed Test Data, except that “accessible” hexes that are included in sampling for purposes of the Alaska Connect Fund must include any hexagon that is testable by at least an uncrewed Aircraft System.

(3) If a hex-9 is determined to be untestable and, thus, ineligible and this is discovered during speed testing of a provider's commitments, the hex-9—and any surrounding hex-9s also deemed to be untestable—will be counted as noncompliant with the provider's commitments. The provider's support may be reduced accordingly, consistent with the compliance tiers set forth in § 54.320(d).

(4) Some hexes may only be accessible by uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics may consider under what circumstances alternatives to on-the-ground speed testing data are appropriate to validate coverage in such areas, including use of UAS and to make any other accommodations to the testing necessary to determine whether the providers have met their commitment or not. To the extent that a mobile provider is permitted to use UAs to conduct testing, it may do so if the allocation and service rules permit airborne use of the spectrum that will be used to provide the mobile service to be tested as part of the drive tests. Otherwise, the provider must additionally obtain a waiver from the Commission (pursuant to 47 Cspan 1.925) of any airborne limitations. Where UAS are used for speed testing in the Alaska Connect Fund:

(i) UAS should mirror on-the-ground testing (outdoor stationary environment) and fly at the lowest, safest possible elevation, to best reflect on-the-ground usage.

(ii) UAS performing speed tests must:

(A) At all times operate at less than 200 feet above ground in remote areas of Alaska where road-based testing is impractical/impossible;

(B) Limit power to the minimum necessary to accomplish testing; and

(C) Upon receipt of a complaint of interference from a co-channel licensee, notify the Commission and either remedy the interference or cease operations.

(iii) There may be circumstances where other methods are equally safe to using UAS but may better reflect the on-the-ground user experience, in which case, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, in coordination with the Office of Economics and Analytics, may restrict the use of UAs in some hex-9s for speed testing purposes, even when UAS usage is otherwise permissible.

(l) Point of contact information. A mobile provider must provide the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau a point of contact for discussions regarding its performance plan and data submissions. Alaska Connect Fund recipients must notify the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau within 30 days whenever the point of contact changes at a company. All such notifications must be submitted to [email protected].

(m) Reporting, recordkeeping and compliance obligations. (1) Mobile providers receiving Alaska Connect Fund support shall be subject to the reporting, certification, and other obligations set forth in §§ 54.9, 54.10, 54.11, 54.313, and 54.314.

(2) Mobile providers receiving Alaska Connect Fund support shall be subject to the compliance measures, recordkeeping requirements, and audit requirements set forth in § 54.320. If specific performance obligations are not achieved in the time period identified in the approved performance plans or other obligations or terms and conditions for the receipt of funding under the Alaska Connect Fund are not met the mobile provider shall be subject to the penalties set forth in § 54.320(c) and (d). Audits may include speed tests tailored to the circumstances of the information that is to be verified; providers under other speed test obligations may also be subject to any and all audits, including speed test audits.

[89 span 107229, Dec. 31, 2024]