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Performance Details

Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development - Alaska Broadband Office

Mission

Facilitate access to the full benefits of broadband with improved quality of service and lower costs.

Core Services

  • Ensure broadband sustainability and growth post broadband deployments.
  • Develop and manage a State Broadband Grant program to award funds for broadband deployment to unserved and underserved locations, and community anchor institutions (CAIs) to achieve “Internet for All” Alaskans.
  • Develop a Digital Equity Plan and manage a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant program.
Arrow GraphicMission Results Core Services
A: Facilitate access to the full benefits of broadband to all Alaskans with improved quality of service and lower costs. Details >
A1: Ensure broadband sustainability and growth post broadband deployments. Details >
  • TARGET #1: Increase outreach and engagement on broadband topics with tribal entities, local tribal governments, regional corporations and other federally recognized organizations.
A2: Develop and manage a State Broadband Grant program to award funds for broadband deployment to unserved and underserved locations, and community anchor institutions (CAIs) to achieve “Internet for All” Alaskans. Details >
  • TARGET #1: Identify the number of broadband serviceable locations and community anchor institutions without broadband access.
A3: Develop a Digital Equity Plan and manage a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant program. Details >
  • TARGET #1: Achieve All Funded Key Performance Indicators included in the federal Digital Equity Plan

Performance Detail


A: Result -Facilitate access to the full benefits of broadband to all Alaskans with improved quality of service and lower costs.
A1: Core Service - Ensure broadband sustainability and growth post broadband deployments.
    Target #1: Increase outreach and engagement on broadband topics with tribal entities, local tribal governments, regional corporations and other federally recognized organizations.

Methodology: The Digital Equity Act calls for a minimum of 44 outreach functions to covered populations.
Analysis of results and challenges: The term “Digital Equity” is the condition in which individuals and communities have the information technology capacity that is needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States. The State of Alaska entered into a subaward agreement with the Rasmuson Foundation to implement the State of Alaska`s Digital Equity outreach program.

Outreach to and collaboration with local governments, tribes, tribal entities, and regional corporations helps the Alaska Broadband Office better understand the specific needs of unserved (less than 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload) and underserved (less than 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload) communities in Alaska and to ensure that funding and efforts to improve broadband access in the state are coordinated and complementary.

The Alaska Broadband Office is leading the State of Alaska`s Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program. Outreach to the Covered Populations continues. The ABO is tracking engagements to ensure all stakeholders have access to the information necessary to participate in the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program.

Target Last Modified: 11/15/2024


A2: Core Service - Develop and manage a State Broadband Grant program to award funds for broadband deployment to unserved and underserved locations, and community anchor institutions (CAIs) to achieve “Internet for All” Alaskans.
    Target #1: Identify the number of broadband serviceable locations and community anchor institutions without broadband access.

Methodology: Data from Division Community and Regional Affairs (CRA) then compared to Internet Service Providers (ISP) websites, validated through the Alaska Telecom Association (ATA) and outreach to individual communities.
Analysis of results and challenges: There are stark contrasts in broadband access between urban and rural locations in Alaska. Larger communities in Alaska are fiber connected and, consequently, have greater broadband bandwidth (at least 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload — 100/20Mbps) in most locations. More than 85% of Alaska`s population lives in these urban locations and larger villages. The Alaska Broadband Office (ABO) has evaluated the broadband service offerings from Alaska Communications, GCI and the local ISPs. Additionally, ABO has met with the Alaska Telecom Association Governmental Affairs and Engineering Committees to better identify the communities that have broadband (100/20Mbps) and those communities that are underserved (cannot attain 100/20Mbps) and unserved (cannot even attain 25/3Mbps).

The National Telecommunications and Information and Administration (NTIA) has worked closely with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to further identify the detail by individual locations. The ABO has plotted all of the unserved and underserved locations. In addition to the locations that fall within community boundaries, there are approximately 11,000 locations that are not within a community. Implementation of the Alaska Broadband Grant Program, in concert with NTIA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, will reduce the number of communities with un-served or under-served broadband in Alaska.

The ABO will track other federal program funding received by communities to avoid duplication of funding and maximize fund distribution across the state. The ABO offers letters of support for the existing and future NTIA, USDA and other federal agency funding sources.
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Target Last Modified: 11/15/2024


A3: Core Service - Develop a Digital Equity Plan and manage a State Digital Equity Capacity Grant program.
    Target #1: Achieve All Funded Key Performance Indicators included in the federal Digital Equity Plan

Methodology: Understand the total Digital Equity Key Performance Indicators (KPI), log and measure only those KPIs that have been funded.
Analysis of results and challenges: The term “Digital Equity” is the condition in which individuals and communities have the information technology capacity that is needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States. To measure the success of the Digital Equity Plan of the State of Alaska, the Alaska Broadband Office (ABO), with partners in the covered populations, originally identified 35 key performance indicators (KPIs) to track. In conversations with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) the ABO realigned the number of KPI`s to be more realistic with the scope of the project. The Alaska Digital Equity Plan has 13 KPIs including one general KPI benefitting all eight of the Covered Populations identified for each of the five Digital Equity categories, and one population specific KPI to each of the eight unique Covered Populations.

Target Last Modified: 11/15/2024

Last refreshed: 05/12/2025 05:00 pm