$340,000 in annual FCC support is still flowing to Adak Eagle to keep internet lines to roughly 300 buildings on Adak Island, even though reporters found most were vacant or ruined.
77 people officially lived on Adak last year—residents say closer to two dozen—and none told reporters they subscribed to the subsidized service; nearly all rely on Starlink instead.
Starlink arrived in 2023 without FCC aid and was reported to be up to 40 times faster, with one resident testing 447 Mbps versus Adak Eagle's FCC-listed 1 to 10 Mbps.
Adak Eagle has collected $3.6 million in federal broadband subsidies since 2016, while the FCC in 2022 cut required locations to 306 from 346 but left the payment unchanged.
The findings add to broader scrutiny of the Universal Service Fund, which ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News say keeps paying Alaska telecoms despite weak oversight and past fraud or misuse allegations.