Goto Section: 54.316 | 54.318 | Table of Contents
FCC 54.317
Revised as of October 5, 2017
Goto Year:2016 |
2018
§ 54.317 Alaska Plan for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers
serving remote Alaska.
(a) Election of support. Subject to the requirements of this section,
certain competitive eligible telecommunications carriers serving remote
areas in Alaska, as defined in § 54.307(e)(3)(i), shall have a one-time
option to elect to participate in the Alaska Plan. Carriers exercising
this option with approved performance plans shall have their support
frozen for a period of ten years beginning on or after January 1, 2017,
at a date set by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,
notwithstanding § 54.307.
(b) Carriers eligible for support. A competitive eligible
telecommunications carrier shall be eligible for frozen support
pursuant to the Alaska Plan if that carrier serves remote areas in
Alaska as defined by § 54.307(e)(3)(i) and if that carrier certified
that it served covered locations in Alaska in its September 30, 2011,
filing of line counts with the Administrator and submitted a
performance plan by August 23, 2016.
(c) Interim support for remote areas in Alaska. From January 1, 2012,
until December 31, 2016, competitive eligible telecommunications
carriers subject to the delayed phase down for remote areas in Alaska
pursuant to § 54.307(e)(3) shall receive support as calculated in
§ 54.307(e)(3)(v).
(d) Support amounts and support term. For a period of 10 years
beginning on or after January 1, 2017, at a date set by the Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau, notwithstanding § 54.307, each Alaska Plan
participant shall receive monthly Alaska Plan support in an amount
equal to the annualized monthly support amount it received for December
2014. Alaska Plan participants shall no longer be required to file line
counts.
(e) Use of frozen support. Frozen support allocated through the Alaska
Plan may only be used to provide mobile voice and mobile broadband
service in those census blocks in remote areas of Alaska, as defined in
§ 54.307(e)(3)(i), that did not, as of December 31, 2014, receive 4G LTE
service directly from 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 block. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the
use of frozen support to build or upgrade middle-mile infrastructure
outside such remote areas of Alaska if such middle mile infrastructure
is necessary to the provision of mobile voice and mobile broadband
service in such remote areas. Alaska Plan participants may use frozen
support to provide mobile voice and mobile broadband service in remote
areas of Alaska served by competitive eligible telecommunications
carrier partners of ineligible carriers if those areas are served using
the competitive eligible telecommunications carrier's infrastructure.
(f) Performance plans. In order to receive 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 paragraph (e) of this section and the requirements
adopted by the Commission for the Alaska Plan. For each level of
wireless service offered (2G/Voice, 3G, and 4G LTE) and each type of
middle mile used in connection with that level of service, the
performance plan must specify minimum speeds that will be offered to a
specified population by the end of the fifth year of support and by the
end of the tenth year of support. Alaska Plan participants shall, no
later than the end of the fourth year of the ten-year term, review and
modify their end-of-term commitments in light of any new developments,
including newly available infrastructure. 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. If the specific
performance obligations are not achieved in the time period identified
in the approved performance plans the carrier shall be subject to
§ 54.320(c) and (d).
(g) Phase down of non-participating competitive eligible
telecommunications carrier high-cost support. Notwithstanding § 54.307,
and except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, support
distributed in Alaska on or after January 1, 2017 to competitive
eligible telecommunications carriers that serve areas in Alaska other
than remote areas of Alaska, that are ineligible for frozen support
under paragraphs (b) or (e) of this section, or that do not elect to
receive support under this section, shall be governed by this
paragraph. Such support shall be subject to phase down in three years
as provided in paragraph (g) of this section, except that carriers that
are not signatories to the Alaska Plan will instead be subject to a
three-year phase down commencing on September 1, 2017, and competitive
eligible telecommunications carriers that are signatories to the Alaska
Plan but did not submit a performance plan by August 23, 2016 shall not
receive support in remote areas beginning January 1, 2017.
(1) From January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017, each such competitive
eligible telecommunications carrier shall receive two-thirds of the
monthly support amount the carrier received for December 2014 for the
relevant study area.
(2) From January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018, each such competitive
eligible telecommunications carrier shall receive one-third of the
monthly support amount the carrier received for December 2014 for the
relevant study area.
(3) Beginning January 1, 2019, no such competitive eligible
telecommunications carrier shall receive universal service support for
the relevant study area pursuant to this section or § 54.307.
(h) Support for unserved remote areas of Alaska. Beginning January 1,
2017, support that, but for paragraph (g) of this section, would be
allocated to carriers subject to paragraph (g) of this section shall be
allocated for a reverse auction, with performance obligations
established at the time of such auction, for deployment of mobile
service to remote areas of Alaska, as defined in § 54.307(e)(3)(i), that
are without commercial mobile radio service as of December 31, 2014.
[ 81 FR 69714 , Oct. 7, 2016]
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Goto Section: 54.316 | 54.318
Goto Year: 2016 |
2018
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