As America targets efforts towards connecting every community to robust broadband, cable providers continue to do what they have always done: build out their networks to reach as many Americans as possible.
That mission looks very different in Alaska, where vast distances, extreme weather, and remote terrain make connectivity one of the toughest challenges in the country. From river deltas to isolated villages, expanding broadband in the Last Frontier often means going further than anywhere else.
With network expansions continuing to happen across Alaska, here are a few examples of projects helping connect some of the most remote communities in the nation. To learn about other projects highlighted in previous blogs, be sure to check out NCTA.com.
And to learn more about what it takes to deliver broadband to rural and far-out communities, watch NCTA’s docufilm “Every Last Mile.”
In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, GCI and Bethel Native Corporation have completed the first phase of the AIRRAQ Network, bringing fiber connectivity and 2.5 gig speeds to five remote Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities—Bethel, Platinum, Eek, Napaskiak and Oscarville.
The project, which includes more than 400 miles of subsea, aerial and terrestrial fiber, will ultimately connect more than a dozen communities and close the digital divide for over 11,800 Alaskans.
In Southeast Alaska, GCI and Cordova Telecom Cooperative are partnering on a 560-mile subsea fiber project between Cordova and Juneau, delivering fiber broadband to the remote community of Pelican and connecting Yakutat, Gustavus and Hoonah. Supported by more than $35 million in federal funding and additional private investment, the project strengthens network resilience while expanding connectivity across Southeast Alaska.
On the Alaska Peninsula, GCI has launched 5G mobile service in the remote communities of King Cove and Chignik Bay, where residents also have access to 2.5 gig residential internet through the Aleutians Fiber Project. The project is bringing fiber connectivity to 13 communities across Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Chain.
King Cove’s journey to connectivity is featured in NCTA’s docufilm “Every Last Mile,” highlighting the unique challenges of building broadband in communities accessible only by air and sea.
Across Southeast Alaska, GCI has expanded its wireless network, launching 5G service in Petersburg and improving LTE coverage in Ketchikan, Kake, Metlakatla and Thorne Bay—coastal communities spread across Alaska’s rugged Panhandle. Additional upgrades are planned as part of continued investment in the region.
