Alaska Mobile Carriers Would Get $162 Million Under Draft FCC Order
The agency cited advocacy from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who’s in a tight race for reelection
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2026 – Alaska could see an infusion of millions of dollars under a federal plan aimed at improving mobile phone service in the giant state.
Federal regulators will vote later this month on whether to provide an extra $162 million for rural mobile service in Alaska.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s office said Wednesday it had circulated an order providing the money among commissioners. Items on circulation can be voted on at the agency’s monthly meetings or outside of those meetings.
Wireless providers serving hard-to-reach areas in Alaska would apply for awards supported by the additional funding.
The money would be in addition to the FCC’s Alaska Connect Fund, a successor to the $1.5 billion Alaska Plan established in 2016.
The ACF is set to provide $203.8 million each year from 2027 through 2034, about $1.6 billion total. Both fixed and mobile broadband providers will be eligible. The program is aimed at ensuring Alaskans have access to modern communications services despite the challenges of building in highly remote areas.
Carr said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, had advocated for the new funding, as well as the agency’s previous efforts to support connectivity in the state.
“Thanks to Senator Sullivan’s strong leadership, Alaska will now benefit from a new influx of funding for high-speed Internet,” Carr said in a statement.
Sullivan is trying to defend his seat from a fierce midterm challenge by Democrat Mary Peltola. Recent polling from the New York Times and Siena University had Peltola leading by 7 points.
President Donald Trump held a rally in Alaska Tuesday to marshall support for Sullivan. Carr was in attendance, as were other senior Trump administration officials, and he spoke briefly after Trump called him up to the podium.
"We are committed to working with Senator Sullivan until we can finish the job of getting every single person in Alaska connected to high-speed internet," he said.
Carr said he was at the rally in his personal capacity. Under the Hatch Act, executive branch employees aren't supposed to participate in political campaigns.
In his statement Wednesday, Carr said that “many thousands” of Alaskan households had access to broadband after the FCC’s funding efforts, “but work remains, and I look forward to partnering with all stakeholders to ensure we complete the job.”
The Alaska Telecom Association released a statement cheering the extra wireless support. The trade group included a statement from Sullivan.
"I’ve worked hard to secure these investments and ensure Alaska has the long-term support needed to expand and sustain connectivity across our state," he said. "We need to make sure our investments today translate into reliable service for Alaskans for the long term."
In May, ProPublica published an investigation that found some participants in the Alaska Plan and other FCC universal service programs in the state were receiving subsidies for serving unpopulated areas.
Ron Duncan, CEO of GCI, the state’s largest ISP, said earlier this year that FCC support accounted for 60 percent of the total telecom revenue in the state.
“There’s no roads, the only way you get out to small communities is in small airplanes,” Duncan said at a conference. “Its when you’re flying the chairman of the FCC for 40 minutes between two small villages separated by a larger mountain range that that they get the perspective of what rural Alaska is really like.”
Update: This story was updated in include additional commentary
