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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 143 / Thursday, July 29, 2021 / Notices and safety of individuals, and to mitigate the transmission of COVID19.
People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities braille, large print, electronic files, audio format, send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the FCCs Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202 4180530
voice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on this proceeding, contact Matthew Warner of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Competition & Infrastructure Policy Division, Matthew.Warner@
fcc.gov, 202 4182419.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Bureaus Alaska Plan Drive Test Public Notice, adopted on July 19, 2021, and released on July 19, 2021. The full text of this document is available for public inspection on the Commissions website at: https
www.fcc.gov/document/wtb-seekscomment-alaska-plan-drive-testing-andmodel.

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I. Public Notice By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Bureau seeks comment on proposed drive test parameters and a model for the drive tests required of certain mobile providers participating in the Alaska Plan.
The Commission adopted the Alaska Plan Order in 2016 to address both fixed and mobile voice and broadband service in high-cost areas of the state of Alaska.
Eight mobile providers chose to participate in the Alaska Plan and submitted performance plans in which they committed to specific deployment obligations and performance requirements sufficient to demonstrate that Alaska Plan support would be used in the public interest. In the performance plans, providers committed to cover a specified number of people by five-year December 31, 2021 and 10-year December 31, 2026
milestones at a specified minimum speed, broken down by each level of wireless service offered 2G/Voice, 3G, and 4G LTE and each type of middle
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mile facility used in connection with the deployed mobile technology. Each participant must certify that it has met the reporting milestones, including minimum download and upload speeds set forth in its approved performance plans.
In addition, participants that receive more than $5 million annually in Alaska Plan support must supplement these certifications with data received or used from drive tests analyzing network coverage for mobile service covering the population for which support was received and showing mobile transmissions to and from the . . .
network meeting or exceeding the minimum expected download and upload speeds delineated in the approved performance plans. The Alaska Plan Order specifies that participants may demonstrate coverage of an area with a statistically significant number of tests in the vicinity of residences being covered.
The Alaska Plan Order further specifies that, as with Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I, these drive tests may be conducted by means other than in automobiles on roads due to the unique terrain and lack of road networks in remote areas of Alaska. In the Alaska Plan Order, the Commission delegated to the Bureau the authority to effectuate plan implementation and administration, including by requiring additional information . . . from individual participants that it deems necessary to establish clear standards for determining whether or not they meet their fiveand 10-year commitments.
Drive test results confirming qualifying participants performance commitments for the five-year milestone are due by March 1, 2022.
Two participants meet the trigger for the drive test requirement: GCI and Copper Valley Wireless. Consistent with the Alaska Plan Orders delegation of authority, we propose drive test parameters and a drive test model to ensure that GCIs and Copper Valley Wirelesss drive tests allow the Commission to determine whether the carriers met their five-year commitments. Appendix A lists the data
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that we propose to require the carriers to collect during the drive tests and the format in which we propose it be reported. The parameters listed in Appendix A are consistent with requirements the Commission has established for mobile speed test data collected in other contexts, and we anticipate that these categories of data will allow the Bureau to evaluate whether GCI and Copper Valley Wireless have met their deployment benchmarks. Appendix B sets forth a drive test model that would help to ensure that the two carriers conduct a statistically significant number of tests in the vicinity of residences being covered. This proposal uses stratified random sampling to provide the carriers with locations to test within a grid system of their reported coverage areas.
A confidence interval would be constructed around the drive test results to verify that a providers commitments have been met or determine the percentage by which the carriers coverage has failed to meet its commitment.
We seek comment on these proposals and on any alternatives that we should consider. Given that this Public Notice only affects two Alaska Plan participants, both of whom have been informed of this action and have indicated a desire to begin testing as soon as possible to maximize their ability to conduct drive testing during less adverse weather conditions, we find that a 14-day comment period will allow sufficient opportunity for public input and accordingly waive the default reply comment period.
II. Appendix A: Mobile Speed Test Data Specification A. Overview The Alaska Plan requires certain plan participants to conduct and report speed tests of their networks, as described in this PN and appendices. Appendix A
describes the data to be collected and the format in which it is to be reported.
B. Sample Data BILLING CODE 671201P

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