Alaska's mobile speed commitments lock in Sept. 1, off a coverage map frozen in 2024

The speeds Alaska's mobile carriers must deliver, and where, are fixed on Sept. 1 and run through 2034, under binding plans they must file with the Federal Communications Commission to keep federal universal service support.

The plans are built on Alaska coverage data frozen at the end of 2024. The commission's rule directs providers to file performance plans "no later than September 1, 2026, based on BDC data standards and availability data as of December 31, 2024." BDC refers to the Broadband Data Collection, the federal mapping system recording where service is and is not available. A performance plan sets out, area by area, the technology and speed a carrier will provide, and is what the commission measures against later when deciding whether support was earned.

The program is the Alaska Connect Fund, successor to the Alaska Plan. Alaska Plan mobile support runs through December 31, 2026, before Alaska Connect Fund support takes over through 2034. Providers must submit plans through the USAC ACF Performance Plan Portal, which opened August 3, 2026.

Single-support areas are those covered by one Alaska Plan participant. In them, the goal is 5G-NR at 35 megabits per second down and 3 up by December 2034. Where subsidized providers overlap, they must extend 4G LTE at 5 megabits down and 1 up, "where technically and financially feasible," by December 2029, after which the commission intends to pick a single provider to carry support through 2034.

The rule grew out of a petition from GCI Communications Corp. The commission granted it in part and denied it in part, most notably rejecting GCI's request that deployment goals apply only to areas with Broadband Serviceable Locations, keeping goals framed around service for people "living, working, and traveling in Alaska." It also confirmed that providers owe no service in areas the commission deems ineligible.

Plans filed September 1 rest on availability data from December 31, 2024, roughly 20 months old at filing and 10 years old when the 2034 goals come due.

The record does not include a response from GCI or other Alaska carriers on the filing deadline. Filings are public in WC Docket No. 10-90 and five related dockets. Contacts are Matthew Warner and Grant B. Lukas of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at [email protected].