Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/15/2023 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Overview from State of Alaska Broadband | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE STANDING COMMITTEE
February 15, 2023
3:16 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Jesse Sumner, Chair
Representative Mike Prax
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Stanley Wright
Representative Ashley Carrick
Representative Zack Fields
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Justin Ruffridge, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): OVERVIEW FROM STATE OF ALASKA BROADBAND
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
THOMAS LOCHNER, Director
Alaska Broadband Office
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave a PowerPoint presentation, titled
"Alaska Broadband Office Update."
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:16:07 PM
CHAIR JESSE SUMNER called the House Labor and Commerce Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:16 p.m. Representatives Prax,
Carrick, and Sumner were present at the call to order.
Representatives Wright, Saddler, and Fields arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
^PRESENTATION(S): OVERVIEW FROM STATE OF ALASKA BROADBAND
PRESENTATION(S): OVERVIEW FROM STATE OF ALASKA BROADBAND
3:16:40 PM
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the only order of business would be
a presentation, titled "Overview from State of Alaska
Broadband."
3:17:37 PM
THOMAS LOCHNER, Director, Alaska Office of Broadband, Department
of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, gave a
PowerPoint presentation, titled "Alaska Broadband Office Update"
[hard copy included in the committee packet]. He stated that
the Alaska Office of Broadband was formed in September of 2022.
He continued to slide 2 and gave an overview of the office's
hierarchy and positions. He explained that the office currently
has three of its four positions filled and is continuing its
work in setting up and becoming effective. On slide 3, he gave
a brief overview of the Broadband Advisory Board, which includes
members of the public, government officials, and various other
representatives from different parts of Alaska business and
industry.
MR. LOCHNER continued to slide 4 and slide 5 and stated that the
majority of funding for the Alaska Office of Broadband is coming
from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), with $42
billion allocated to broadband equity, access, and deployment
(BEAD) throughout the United States. He stated that the money
goes to the states for usage in grants to build broadband
infrastructure in areas without access to broadband. He stated
that IIJA also allocated $640 million for administrative costs
associated with the set-up of programs and offices needed to
administer the grants.
3:21:23 PM
MR. LOCHNER moved to slide 6 and gave an overview of digital
equity, inclusion, and literacy. He stated that the three types
of grants coming from IIJA for these issues are planning,
capacity, and competitive grants. He said that Alaska has been
awarded a grant of $567,800 for planning, with the latter two
grant awards pending. He stated that these grants are focused
on helping populations with less access or ability to navigate
an increasingly digital world. He gave an example of the
diverse technology a person released from 20 years of
incarceration would face.
MR. LOCHNER continued with slide 7 and gave an overview of the
funding and disbursement of the allocated $42 billion. He
stated that there would be a minimum $100 million allocation for
all 50 states, and 10 percent of the $42 billion would be
allocated for "high cost" areas in the U.S. He gave the
definitions of service for broadband in relation to download and
upload speeds: unserved is less than 25 megabytes per second
(Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload, and underserved is less than
100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.
3:23:58 PM
MR. LOCHNER continued to slide 8 and provided a timeline for the
grants and funding plans. He stated that the Alaska Broadband
Office must submit a five-year action plan, an initial proposal,
and a final proposal to the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration. The goal of the Alaska Broadband
Office is to have the plans ready this year by June 15, July 31,
and November 30, respectively.
3:26:24 PM
MR. LOCHNER continued to slide 9 through slide 16, reiterating
the definitions of broadband access and showing several maps
with evaluations on the status of broadband across Alaska. He
pointed out that 28.9 percent of communities in the state are
served. All communities served by broadband are on fiber
systems. He said that the current microwave systems do not meet
the threshold of 100 over 20 Mbps required to be considered
served. He continued that the federal government is involved in
bringing broadband to another 20.6 percent of U.S. Alaska's
communities through programs such as the Department of
Agriculture's (USDA's) Connect Program and the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA's)
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. After the completion of
those projects, he said, 50.6 percent of Alaska's communities
will still be under or unserved.
3:29:19 PM
MR. LOCHNER moved to slide 17 through slide 19, showing maps
with possible layouts for broadband projects that would reduce
the number of communities not being served by broadband. He
said the plans have been published online so that the Alaska
Broadband Office can receive feedback on the most accurate
places to lay down the broadband lines.
3:31:13 PM
MR. LOCHNER continued to slide 20 and slide 21, outlining the
next steps for the five-year action plan. He stated that the
Alaska Broadband Office broke down the requirements into three
broad categories: outreach, network, and logistics. The office
has completed 40, 60, and 70 percent of its goal for each
category, respectively. He said that the primary grant
criterion is worth 75 percent of the score for the Notice of
Funding Opportunity, which includes efficient use of BEAD
funding, affordability for consumers, and fair labor practices.
The secondary criterion is whether the project will be completed
on time, and other criteria include network design, operating
costs, Native bidders, and carrier neutral and fair pricing
practices.
3:34:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS asked if there would be any solutions for
parts of urban areas experiencing lower broadband speeds.
MR. LOCHNER answered that a particular location within a served
area receiving lower than slow speeds would still be lower on
the list for funding because it is within a served community.
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS asked if there is data which shows a
disconnect between the speeds certain people experience in urban
communities versus the speeds they are theoretically supposed to
experience.
MR. LOCHNER answered that the Alaska Broadband Office has a
speed test available on its website, and people have been
advised to submit results so data can be collected.
3:37:01 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked if the BEAD funding was a one-time
grant or if it would be recurring.
MR. LOCHNER answered that the BEAD funding is a one-time grant
and a part of IIJA, as well as the grants from USDA and NTIA.
He added that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does
provide recurring grants. In response to a follow-up question,
he expressed uncertainty concerning whether the federal funding
will be enough to cover the entire cost of the planned projects.
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked whether there would be opportunities
for matched funding from different municipalities.
MR. LOCHNER answered that the Notice of Funding Opportunity
requires a 25 percent match, although for some rural high-cost
locations the match requirement is waived.
3:39:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX questioned whether the Alaska Broadband
Office plans to use both fiber optic and microwave cables.
MR. LOCHNER answered that the office is "technology agnostic"
but must meet certain speed and latency requirements. In
response to Representative Prax's concern about spending money
on a technology that could become quickly outdated, he said that
the office is developing an "operations and maintenance" model.
In response to a follow-up question, he answered that close work
is being done with the Department of Natural Resources to ensure
that the Alaska Broadband Office has the necessary permits for
whatever type of land the fiber optic cables go across.
3:45:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked if the BEAD funding was solely
targeted at the "covered populations" listed on slide 6.
MR. LOCHNER answered that the projects would benefit all
Alaskans. In response to a follow-up question, he said that the
focus of the funding is making sure all communities are covered
regardless of their population, with the caveat that each
project would need to be sustainable.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked why satellite Internet was not on
the provided maps as a consideration for providing broadband to
Alaska communities.
MR. LOCHNER answered that geosynchronous satellites are unable
to meet the federal government's speed or latency requirements.
He added that low orbit satellites such as the ones used by
Starlink also do not meet these standards, although they are a
useful stopgap.
3:48:55 PM
REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT asked if there would be a point in time at
which Starlink would be able to provide 1 gigabyte (GB) over 1
GB speeds.
MR. LOCHNER answered Starlink is "magical" for those that have
previously been without any type of Internet, although it does
have several limitations. In response to a follow-up question,
he said that projects would have to be completed within four
years to keep funding, with the possibility of a one-year
extension.
3:50:38 PM
CHAIR SUMNER asked how much money the federal government would
allocate to Alaska for the purpose of building broadband.
MR. LOCHNER answered that it is too early to know.
3:51:24 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether it would make sense for the
state to wait until satellite Internet technology improves
before making investments in broadband for rural Alaska, as this
could lower the cost.
MR. LOCHNER responded that to receive the federal funding, the
state must do what the federal government is incentivizing the
state to do.
3:52:17 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Labor and Commerce Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:52 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Broadband Office Presentation H L&C 02-15-23.pdf |
HL&C 2/15/2023 3:15:00 PM |