[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 186 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60162-60164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21045]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[WC Docket No. 16-271; DA 20-1097; FRS 17087]


Connect America Fund--Alaska Plan

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) adopts the 
Alaska Population Distribution Model. The model provides a methodology 
for estimating the number of Alaskans who receive mobile service within 
census blocks in remote areas of Alaska, allowing consistent 
understanding of where providers need to provide coverage for their 
approved commitments under the Alaska Plan. The Bureau will also use 
the methodology for creation of an explicit list of census blocks 
eligible for use of frozen support under the Alaska Plan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Warner, Wireless 
Telecommunications

[[Page 60163]]

Bureau, (202) 418-2419, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Bureau's Order in 
WC Docket No. 16-271; DA 20-1097, which was released on September 16, 
2020. The full text of document DA 20-1097 may be found at: http://apps.fcc.gov/edocs/. To request materials in accessible formats for 
people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio 
format), send an email to [email protected], or call the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice).

Synopsis

    1. In this Order, the Bureau adopts a methodology for estimating 
the number of Alaskans who receive mobile service within census blocks 
in remote areas of Alaska. The Bureau will use this methodology to 
determine whether mobile providers that participate in the Commission's 
plan for providing support for the deployment of fixed and mobile 
service in high cost areas of Alaska (the Alaska Plan) have met their 
performance commitments. The Bureau will also use the methodology to 
identify census blocks in remote areas of Alaska where these minimum 
service commitments apply.
    2. Alaska faces unique circumstances, including its massive size, 
varying terrain, harsh climates, isolated populations, shortened 
construction season, and lack of access to infrastructure, which have 
made deploying communications infrastructure particularly challenging 
for Alaskan providers. To address Alaska's unique challenges, the 
Commission adopted the Alaska Plan Order in 2016, which set forth a 
ten-year universal service plan specific to Alaska. The Alaska Plan 
Order froze mobile provider participants' support at December 2014 
levels (frozen support), but required them to commit to expanding their 
Fourth-Generation, Long-Term Evolution (4G LTE) service at speeds of at 
least 10/1 Mbps in eligible areas, subject to exceptions such as 
limited middle mile capability.
    3. Mobile Provider Commitments. Under the Alaska Plan Order's 
requirements, participating mobile providers must serve a specific 
number of people in remote parts of Alaska by the end of year 5 (ending 
December 31, 2021) and year 10 (ending December 31, 2026) of the 
support term. As part of their commitments, providers must identify the 
mobile technology that they will use to serve those populations (e.g., 
3G, LTE) and the type of middle-mile connectivity (e.g., fiber, 
satellite) on which they will rely to provide mobile services. The 
Alaska Plan required participating mobile service providers to submit 
performance plans with their commitments for Bureau review. In December 
2016, the Bureau approved the service commitments made by eight Alaskan 
mobile service providers, and it subsequently accepted updated 
commitments from ASTAC and GCI. The Alaska Plan Order stated that the 
Commission would rely on participating providers' Form 477 coverage 
data to evaluate whether providers have met their 5 and 10 year 
commitments. The Commission delegated authority to the Bureau to 
require additional information necessary to establish clear standards 
for determining whether providers have met their 5 and 10-year 
commitments.
    4. Proposed Alaska Population-Distribution Model. To establish a 
consistent methodology for determining the number of people served in 
Alaskan census blocks, the Bureau sought comment on a model, which the 
Bureau named the Alaska Population-Distribution Model, to estimate the 
number of Alaskans who receive mobile service in census blocks in 
remote areas. The Alaska Population Model Public Notice sought comment 
on using this methodology for the purpose of evaluating whether 
participating providers have met their performance obligations 
associated with receiving frozen support under the Alaska Plan. The 
Alaska Population-Distribution Model identifies areas within a census 
block where people are likely to live and then evenly distributes the 
population throughout the livable area of the census block.
    5. Specifically, the model uses a multi-step process to identify 
areas within a census block most likely to be populated and combines 
those results with service coverage maps to estimate the number of 
people with mobile wireless service in a partially-served census block. 
The model uses TIGER road data overlaid onto populated census blocks, 
under the premise that local roads (not highways or expressways) are a 
reliable predictor of population locations. Next, the model draws 
polygons extending 100 meters on either side of those roads, with areas 
further out assumed to be uninhabited. The model also overlays General 
Land Status data maintained by the State of Alaska and removes areas 
where people are unlikely to reside, such as National Forest Service 
land. Finally, the model evenly distributes the population of each 
census block within the remaining polygons to reflect the geographic 
areas where people are likely to live. For those census blocks where no 
populated areas are identified, the methodology evenly distributes the 
Census-reported population of each block across land within that block 
owned by municipalities, private entities, or Alaska Natives. If there 
is no land owned by those groups, then the population is distributed 
across the entire census block.
    6. The Alaska Population Model Public Notice sought comment on 
exceptions to the methodology in four areas of Alaska in which the 
proposed methodology might not accurately reflect population coverage. 
Specifically, the Bureau proposed to adopt the following deviations 
from the general methodology:
     In and around Unalaska, in an area covering 31 census 
blocks, address and other population location information from the 
local government could be used to create polygons around addresses 
(with a 50-meter buffer) in residential areas to represent the location 
of the population.
     Near Nome and Unalakleet, in an area covering 187 census 
blocks, aerial imagery data from Google Earth can be used to identify 
building structures, and polygons could be drawn around them as a proxy 
for the location of population.
     In the Prudhoe Bay area, in an area covering 16 census 
blocks where 2010 census data likely primarily reflects oil field 
workers rather than year-round population, Google Earth and internal 
ASTAC location data can be used to identify populated areas (primarily 
developed worksites, mobile camps, and staging areas).
     In the Copper Valley, in an area covering 61 census 
blocks, Google Earth and internal Copper Valley Telephone Company 
structural location data can be used to identify structures.
    7. The Bureau also sought comment on alternatives to the Alaska 
Population-Distribution Model that may better identify populated areas. 
The Bureau specifically sought comment on using a database of 
broadband-serviceable locations to identify the specific locations 
within a census block where fixed broadband is unavailable.
    8. Finally, the Bureau proposed to use the Alaska Population-
Distribution Model to identify the census blocks in remote areas of 
Alaska that are eligible for use of frozen support under the Alaska 
Plan (frozen-support eligible blocks), and it noted that the Bureau's 
list of blocks developed using the methodology was the same as the list 
submitted by GCI. No commenter offered any alternatives to this 
proposal.
    9. The Bureau adopts the Alaska Population-Distribution Model to

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estimate the number of people in remote parts of Alaska who have access 
to mobile service in census blocks partially served by providers 
participating in the Alaska Plan. To assess a participating provider's 
satisfaction of its service commitments at the 5 and 10-year 
performance benchmarks, the Bureau will use 2010 block-level population 
census data and the provider's Form 477 data, in conjunction with the 
Alaska Population-Distribution Model, to estimate the number of 
Alaskans in remote parts of the state who are covered by the provider's 
network (using the technology identified in the commitment). No 
commenter proposed an alternative approach, and the sole commenter, 
ATA, supports use of the model. The Bureau agrees with ATA that the 
Alaska Population-Distribution Model is the best currently available 
method for determining whether mobile providers meet their service 
commitments. In addition, the Bureau believes that the model is the 
best available methodology that likely will be available by the 5-year 
mark and that the same methodology should be applied to both the 5 and 
10-year benchmark. Using two different methodologies for the 5 and 10-
year evaluations would result in inconsistent evaluation of the 
commitments and could jeopardize the Commission's ability to enforce 
those commitments.
    10. Determining Whether Providers Have Met Their Commitments. 
Although the Alaska Plan Order required mobile participants to specify 
the number of people that they would commit to serve, it did not 
address how providers would calculate this number, other than to note 
that the Commission would use mobile providers' nationwide coverage 
polygons from Form 477 for the analysis. Form 477 data, however, which 
reflect mobile providers' coverage area, do not necessarily reflect the 
number of people served in Alaska. A map that reflects 75% coverage of 
the geographic area of a census block, for example, does not mean 
necessarily that 75% of the population of that census block is covered 
by that provider, given that population generally is not evenly 
distributed through a census block in remote areas of Alaska and that 
census blocks may be very large and sparsely populated.
    11. To determine whether mobile providers have met their service 
commitments using their Form 477 nationwide coverage polygons, the 
Commission will superimpose these coverage polygons onto the Alaska 
Population-Distribution Model to distribute 2010 census population 
throughout the census block. Commission staff then will analyze how 
many people in that census block are located within the mobile 
provider's coverage area to determine the number of people served by 
that provider.
    12. Exceptions. The Bureau also adopts the four exceptions to the 
model that it proposed in the Alaska Population Model Public Notice (in 
and around Unalaska, near Nome and Unalakleet, in the Prudhoe Bay area, 
and in the Copper Valley area). Because of the unique nature of these 
four areas, the alternate data sources better reflect the location of 
population than the Alaska Population-Distribution Model; in addition, 
no commenters object to these exceptions. Allowing these limited 
exceptions to the model will provide more granular data of where people 
are located in remote areas, and it will ensure that participating 
mobile providers are deploying service that will benefit Alaskans.
    13. The Bureau rejects ATA's request for mobile providers to 
``submit available evidence regarding the true location of population 
no later than six months before the next approaching benchmark,'' which 
the Bureau interprets to be a request to submit additional exceptions 
to the Alaska Population-Distribution Model by June 30, 2021 (six 
months before the 5-year mark of December 31, 2021). First, the Bureau 
notes that mobile providers already have had an opportunity to submit 
additional exceptions in response to the Alaska Population Model Public 
Notice, issued in February, and no commenter has identified any 
exceptions other than the four exceptions that the Bureau adopts here. 
Second, permitting the submission of additional exceptions after 
providers' four-year performance plan resubmissions, due December 31, 
2020, would unnecessarily complicate the Bureau's review of those 
resubmissions, which must include population coverage commitments based 
on the model the Bureau adopts herein. The Bureau therefore declines to 
allow mobile providers to submit additional exceptions to the model and 
find the amount of time already allowed for such requests to have been 
sufficient.
    14. Frozen-Support Eligible Census Blocks. Finally, the Bureau 
adopts its proposal to use the Alaska Population-Distribution Model to 
identify those census blocks in remote areas of Alaska that are 
eligible for frozen support under the Alaska Plan and that can be 
counted by participating carriers towards their performance 
commitments. Specifically, the Bureau uses the model to identify those 
census blocks in remote Alaska where, as of December 31, 2014, less 
than 85% of the population was covered by 4G LTE service of providers 
that are either unsubsidized or not eligible for frozen support in 
Alaska. The Bureau applies the Alaska Population-Distribution Model--in 
combination with 2010 block-level population census data and Form 477 
4G LTE coverage data for those unsubsidized or ineligible providers as 
of December 31, 2014--to generate the list of frozen-support eligible 
blocks.
    15. As the Bureau explained in the Alaska Population Model Public 
Notice, the list of census blocks generated using our proposed Alaska 
Population Distribution Model aligns with the list of census blocks 
eligible for frozen support that GCI submitted on November 29, 2016. 
Commenters do not object to this list of census blocks, and the Bureau 
finds that it is the most accurate list of census blocks eligible for 
frozen support. Accordingly, the Bureau will use this list of frozen-
support eligible census blocks to determine if mobile providers have 
met their service commitments at the 5 and 10-year benchmarks of the 
Alaska Plan. Consistent with the Alaska Plan Order, participating 
providers ``may only satisfy their performance commitments through 
service coverage'' in those census blocks included on the list.
    16. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to the authority contained 
in sections 1-4 and 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
47 U.S.C. 151-154 and 254, and sections 0.91, 0.131, 0.291, 0.311, and 
1.106 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91, 0.131, 0.291, 0.311, and 
1.106, and the delegated authority contained in the Alaska Plan Order, 
31 FCC Rcd 10139, 10166, para. 85, this Order is adopted.

Federal Communications Commission.
Amy Brett,
Associate Division Chief, Competition and Infrastructure Policy 
Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2020-21045 Filed 9-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P