The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (Commission) adopted regulation changes in Title 3 of the Alaska Administrativ e Code revising the Alaska Universal Service Fund (AUSF) . Specifically, the Commission:

·     Capped the AUSF surcharge at 10 percent;  

·     Eliminated the Public Interest Paytelephone (PIPT) and State Lifeline and Link Up support programs in their entirety;

·     Initiated a two-year phasedown of a support program that addressed switching costs for several rural carriers, known as Dial Equipment Mode (DEM) Weighting support;

·     Revised Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) and Carrier Common Line (CCL) support as Essential Network Support (ENS), froze ENS support at historic 2016 values, and eliminated all such support for newly defined “non-remote” areas of Alaska.

·     Terminated the AUSF in its entirety on June 30, 2023, with a mandatory comprehensive review two years prior to the termination date to determine the future of the AUSF.


The regulation was adopted by the Commission at its August 8-9, 2018 public meeting. For more information, see R-18-001(5).  The regulation has been filed by the Lt. Governor and will become effective on December 20, 2018.  The regulation will appear in Register 228, January, 2019 of the Alaska Administrative Code.




Date Issued: 11/28/2018