# Summary
Adak Island, Alaska, presents an unusual infrastructure paradox. The nearly abandoned island maintains internet connectivity to hundreds of empty buildings, with costs ultimately passed to American taxpayers through federal subsidies.
The island, once home to a major Cold War military installation, has emptied dramatically since the Navy closed its base in 1997. Today, fewer than 200 residents remain. Yet the Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund continues subsidizing broadband infrastructure across the entire island, including to vacant structures, abandoned homes, and shuttered commercial properties.
This creates a peculiar economics problem. Internet providers receive funding to maintain networks serving ghost towns, meaning taxpayer dollars support fiber lines running to buildings nobody occupies. The subsidy model calculates costs based on geographic reach and population density rather than actual usage or occupancy rates.
For the handful of residents still on Adak, broadband access remains essential for remote work, education, and emergency services. The island's isolation means commercial carriers won't serve it profitably. Federal subsidies bridge that gap.
However, the subsidy structure incentivizes maintaining full island-wide coverage rather than targeting only occupied properties. Internet providers have little reason to abandon service to empty buildings when the government pays the bill. The FCC's rural broadband mandate, designed to close the digital divide, inadvertently funds connectivity that serves no actual users.
This raises uncomfortable questions about subsidy efficiency. Taxpayers finance infrastructure for a vanishing population in a place with limited economic prospects. Young people leave. Businesses struggle. Buildings deteriorate. Yet the broadband network expands to serve them anyway.
Adak's situation reflects broader challenges in rural broadband policy. Federal programs prioritize geographic coverage over practical usage. They assume populations remain stable rather than account for demographic decline. The result: money spent wiring empty islands while other underserved areas lack basic connectivity.
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