§ 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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