Aniak carrier Bush-Tell has drawn $12.2 million in phone and broadband subsidy since 2019

More than $12.2 million in federal telephone and broadband subsidy has accumulated in three award records for Bush-Tell, Incorporated, the Aniak-based carrier serving villages along the middle Kuskokwim. The Federal Communications Commission holds one standing record per program, each opened at the end of 2019 or the start of 2020, and refreshed all three figures Friday on USAspending.gov.

The largest, $10,321,499, is Alaska Plan support paid through the High Cost Program, which pays carriers to operate networks in areas the commission classifies as unserved or underserved. A second High Cost record of $1,836,360 carries the CAF ICC designation, the Connect America Fund's replacement for revenue carriers once earned from charging each other to complete calls. A third, $50,503, flows through Lifeline, which discounts service for qualifying low-income households; Bush-Tell's published Lifeline offering lists a $1 monthly recurring charge for unlimited local calling.

The Alaska Plan was to end Dec. 31, 2026. In an order adopted Nov. 1, 2024, the FCC extended support for all Alaska Plan carriers by two years, to the end of 2028, and set the Alaska Connect Fund to take over on Jan. 1, 2029 and run through 2034. Carriers keep their existing deployment and service obligations through the extension.

Alaska Power & Telephone told the commission last month that eliminating CAF ICC support without a replacement would cut roughly $1.1 million a year from its revenue across 40 remote communities.

Bush-Tell also holds a $29,945,251 USDA ReConnect grant to build fiber to the premises across Aniak, Upper and Lower Kalskag, Crooked Creek, Red Devil, Sleetmute, Stony River, Holy Cross, Anvik, Shageluk and Grayling. USDA lists the project as covering 241 funded service area households and benefiting 697 people, 38 businesses and seven educational facilities.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has countered that recurring high-cost support remains necessary to maintain remote telecommunications service, even as it faults federal funding formulas for failing to reflect carriers' actual costs. The award records contain no statement from Bush-Tell.