Alaska Broadband Office Program Overview The Alaska Broadband Office (ABO) is primarily responsible for managing the State of Alaska’s federal program responses to the Digital Equity (DE) Act and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program established in the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed by Congress in November 2021. These programs provide the state with funding to bridge the digital divide by building out technology neutral infrastructure and increasing capacity for unserved and underserved Alaskans by providing grants to eligible parties to build out broadband infrastructure, in a scalable, sustainable, and technology neutral manner. Latest News and Current Events State Mapping Challenge Process – 30 Day Comment Period Starting September 18, 2023, and running through October 18, 2023, the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED), Alaska Broadband Office (ABO), will be seeking comment on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Initial Proposal Volume 1, State Challenge methodology. This proposed methodology is to share how to run the State’s mapping challenge process. The ABO has adopted the guidance from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) guidance with only one small exception (see the attached PDF). The ABO encourages interested parties to review the attached PDF, and if there is a recommended change to the process, parties are invited to send an email to ced.abo.general@alaska.gov. Instate Challenge Summary ABO Notice of Tribal Consultation The Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Alaska Broadband Office (ABO) is consulting with Alaska Native Leaders representing their Tribal Government or Alaska Native Corporation on the Internet For All Broadband build out for Alaska. Our office will be continuing the dialogue and conversations on how the ABO can best hear Alaska Native communities’ voices to improve broadband service for years to come. Any Tribal Leader who has authorization to represent their tribal entity who would like to schedule a Tribal Consultation with the ABO team can contact Melissa Kookesh at melissa.kookesh@alaska.gov. Tribal Consultation Agenda Reverse Margin Operations and Maintenance Model The ABO has built a model that evaluates, at a high level, the math associated with the cost of operating a small telecommunications provider in remote and small communities. This model is now available for public comment after being introduced in the ABO Public Meeting on March 30th. Instructions for Download: The model inputs are the yellow cells, and the outputs are in the regal blue cells with bold white font. All other cells in the model are formulas. The outputs are: 1. The number of communities necessary (at an average 75 homes per community) to achieve a 15% margin; and 2. The amount of subsidies needed to support a single community at a 15% margin. The ABO does not claim that any of the numbers in the model match any real-world applications. The ABO further encourages reviewers to input numbers that reflect their own experiences into the model. Please contact the Alaska Broadband Office with any mathematical errors found and we will apply any necessary corrections. Download Reverse Margin Operation and Maintenance Model Here Last update: 3/31/2023. Public Listening Sessions Do you know what broadband is? Are you and your family having ongoing issues with your internet connectivity, or challenges paying for it? The Alaska Broadband Office is excited to host an online public meeting series. Come with your personal experiences, feedback or questions about broadband and our office. The series is split into several different regular sessions. The Tuesday meeting is a Native Entities Session that focuses on listening to the concerns of Native leaders in Alaska. The general interest meeting is for anyone to give feedback, while the technical interest meeting is directed at members of our business communities. The meetings are open, so anyone is welcome to attend either session. Meeting details are listed below. The Native entities session is held every Tuesday from 2 to 3PM AKST. The general interest session is held every Wednesday from 2 to 3PM AKST. The technical interest session is held every Thursday from 2 to 2:30 PM AKST. Join Our Listening Session through Zoom. To join, click on the button below, enter the meeting ID and passcode into your Zoom application, or use the call-in option below. Native Entities Session Sept 19 Meeting ID: 883 2235 5234 Passcode: broadband Or call 253-215-8782 and enter the Phone Meeting ID: 883 2235 5234# Phone Passcode: 042730167 Join Meeting Here General Interest Session Sept 20 Meeting ID: 845 1544 8859 Passcode: broadband Or call 253-215-8782 and enter the Phone Meeting ID: 845 1544 8859# Phone Passcode: 426954690 Join Meeting Here Technical Interest Session Sept 21 Meeting ID: 845 1544 8859 Passcode: broadband Or call 253-215-8782 and enter the Phone Meeting ID: 845 1544 8859# Phone Passcode: 426954690 Join Meeting Here