FCC Makes Changes to Alaska Connect Fund
The FCC unanimously voted last week to change mobile support policies in Alaska enacted by the previous administration “to ensure efficient use of scarce universal service funds,” said an order released Friday. The order grants in part GCI Communications’ petition for reconsideration of the Alaska Connect Fund Order, approves portions of a waiver request from GCI, and makes other changes to the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF). “We are fine-tuning the Alaska Connect Fund to ensure that it is more appropriately tailored to the topography and needs of Alaska,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement.
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The order clarified that a single census tract can have multiple areas and commitments, that performance plans can include older tech if providers can justify it to the agency, and that the Wireless Bureau will consider available backhaul capacity when negotiating individualized performance plans. The order denies GCI’s proposal to limit deployment goals to areas with broadband serviceable locations “because it would ultimately amount to less service for the same amount of support, undermining the goals of the program,” the order said. It also clarifies the Wireless Bureau’s discretion to determine eligibility, that providers don’t have obligations for areas ineligible for ACF, and addresses the transfer of ACF obligations in mergers.