FCC Releases Alaska Plan Drive Test Rules
The FCC Wireless Bureau adopted rules for a drive-test model, and parameters for the tests required of mobile providers receiving more than $5 million in annual support through the Alaska Plan. Only two providers, GCI and Copper Valley Wireless, exceed…
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the threshold and must provide data, the Thursday order notes. Much of the item addresses various concerns raised by GCI, with some wins and losses. Only GCI filed comments responding to a notice on proposed rules. GCI expressed concerns that speed-test data "would not accurately represent the ability to place a voice call over a 2G network” and “proposed that, instead, providers demonstrate voice coverage by placing voice calls between five and 30 seconds in duration to a telephone number established for test calls,” the order says: “We find GCI’s suggestion to be a reasonable approach, and therefore we will require it. … Because GCI is the only provider subject to drive testing that has a 2G commitment and GCI’s particular 2G requirement is voice only, we agree with GCI that a test assessing the availability of voice service would be appropriate.” GCI lost on other calls. The bureau overrode GCI objections to a rule that at least 50% of drive tests must be conducted from a vehicle in motion. “GCI argues that, instead of basing frames on middle-mile and last-mile technologies, we should assign frames based only on the speeds a provider reports via its FCC Form 477 filings,” the bureau said. “We disagree. The Alaska Drive-Test Model’s integration of middle-mile and last-mile technologies is consistent with the Alaska Plan Order, the Commission’s rules, the provider performance plans that the Bureau approved, and the policy undergirding the Alaska Plan.” The bureau also asked for additional comment on a proposal to require mobile providers “subject to the drive-test requirement to submit new drive-test data consistent with the drive-test model and parameters if they fail to meet a buildout milestone and later seek to cure a compliance gap.” Comment dates will be set in a Federal Register notice. Representatives of the Alaska Telecom Association, meanwhile, spoke with aides to all four commissioners about the “importance of establishing a path forward” on the state plan. “The group discussed the success of the Alaska Plan in supporting the operation, upgrade, and expansion of both fixed and mobile telecommunication services in Alaska,” a filing said: “Plan participants have met or exceeded mid-term benchmarks and will be enabled to continue to improve services for Alaskans throughout the second half of the Plan.”