On October 19, 2023, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to explore how the universal service high-cost support program can continue funding fixed and mobile broadband services in Alaska one of the hardest to serve areas in the country.  The Commission sought comment to better understand the changes, including technology and the broadband funding landscape, that have occurred in Alaska since 2016 when the Commission adopted the currently operative, ten-year Alaska Plan, which, alongside two other fixed-high cost programs in Alaska, is scheduled to wind-down in the next few years.  The proposed rulemaking sought comment on a number of issues to help the Commission determine the most effective methodologies and uses for future universal service funding for high-cost fixed and mobile services in Alaska.  As part of the rulemaking, the Commission will leverage data from the agency’s new and improved broadband coverage map and broadband funding map, which provide a more accurate picture of where service is and is not, and where deployment has already been funded, in Alaska.