The Future
of 5G for Alaska

The Last Frontier at the forefront of technology

By Tracy Barbour

ou may be wondering: When is 5G coming to Alaska and how will it change my connectivity—and life? Well, the wait is winding down. The foundation of 5G is being laid, and Alaskans will soon be able to experience the benefits of this advanced technology, according to the state’s providers.

Last summer GCI partnered with multinational networking and telecom company Ericsson to build the nation’s northernmost 5G network in Anchorage. GCI is merging its metro fiber network and radio spectrum holdings with Ericsson’s technology to deliver Alaska’s first standards-based 5G new radio (NR) experience. More specifically, GCI is deploying Ericsson’s 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards-based 5G NR hardware and software to about eighty macro cell sites across Anchorage, according to a June news release. These sites will be supported by backhaul services provided by GCI’s metro fiber network. The project will be complete in 2020, with initial 5G service coming online during the first half of the year.

5G NR is the global standard for a unified 5G wireless air interface. 5G NR will deliver a substantially faster and more responsive mobile broadband experience as well as enable new wireless capabilities and applications. The combination of GCI’s assets and Ericsson’s 5G NR solution will increase its Anchorage wireless network capacity by ten times or more and provide better coverage.

Over the next few years, GCI intends to launch two different 5G modes: non-standalone 5G and standalone 5G, according to Josh Lonn, GCI’s vice president of wireless products. He explains: “Non-standalone 5G relies on an existing LTE network for certain functions, combined with 5G NR. Pretty much everyone will be launching 5G in non-standalone mode, since it allows us to use many of the LTE assets that support our LTE network today. Over time, we’ll see standalone 5G, where all services will be delivered over 5G. When standalone materializes, we’ll start to see additional benefits like true network slicing and ultra-low latency. That’s not to say 5G-NR non-standalone isn’t worth the effort. LTE is a critical ingredient in the path to 5G.”

As GCI modernizes its network, starting with urban markets, it’s deploying more radio spectrum than ever before, Lonn says. And 5G is an important ingredient in this modernization story. “We really can’t wait to make Alaska the first frontier for 5G,” says Lonn.

GCI is constantly evolving its network, and device manufacturers are always adding functionality, Lonn says. 5G will enable consumers using newer LTE devices to experience significant service improvements—even without using a 5G phone. “The advanced LTE features are just below 5G,” he says.
GCI is in the process of working with Ericsson and turning up additional cell sites. So GCI customers are already encountering some improvements. “Our customers are seeing a better LTE experience than they did even six months ago,” he says.

GCI controls 210 MHz (megahertz) of mobile radio spectrum in Anchorage, more than any other wireless provider, including low-band 600 MHz, 700 MHz, and 850 MHz spectrum, which is particularly useful for indoor coverage, and mid-band PCS and AWS spectrum. The company’s 5G NR deployment will take advantage of all five of these radio bands to ensure a superior experience for Anchorage residents.

However, not all 5G is alike. For example, one end of 5G revolves around millimeter-wave service, which delivers blazing-fast speeds but a very small coverage radius. On the other end is low-band spectrum, which can be deployed down to 600 MHz and is especially good at in-building coverage—but there is a tradeoff of speed for coverage. In the middle is mid-band spectrum, which delivers better speeds but at a sacrifice to deep in-building coverage. “At the end of the day, the winning combination is a balance between all three of these variants with devices that can adeptly move users from one to the other,” Lonn says.

5G is essentially the fifth generation of cellular network technology. Incidentally, the industry association 3rd Generation Partnership Project generally defines any system using “5G NR” software as “5G.”

Previous generations of mobile networks addressed consumers predominantly for voice and SMS in 2G, web-browsing in 3G, and higher-speed data and video streaming in 4G, according to Ericsson. “With global mobile data traffic expected to grow eight times by the end of 2024, there is a need for a more efficient technology, higher data rates, and spectrum utilization,” according to Ericsson’s This is 5G report. “New applications such as 4K/8K video streaming, virtual and augmented reality, and emerging industrial use cases will also require higher bandwidth, greater capacity, security, and lower latency. Equipped with these capabilities, 5G will bring new opportunities for people, society, and businesses.”

Interestingly, previous generations of mobile technology were defined and designed for consumers. However, 5G is simultaneously being defined for business applications. Thus, the transition from 4G to 5G will directly serve both consumers and multiple industries.

Ericsson’s network technology is designed to help providers smoothly evolve from 4G to 5G, with both high cost-efficiency and short time to market. The company began laying the groundwork to facilitate 5G deployment a number of years ago. “What we did then was we accelerated the standardization, so the first 5G was deployed at the end of 2018,” says Peter Linder, head of 5G marketing for Ericsson North America. “Today you have 5G in fifty-one networks in the United States.”

He adds: “I think 5G is one of the most exciting areas in telecom.”

So how do the generations of cellular technology differ in their functionality and performance? Lonn describes the distinction this way: “Every iteration of standards in the mobile industry has been associated with a generational number. The first generation was analog mobile phones. When 2G came around this was the first acronym of GSM (Groupe Spéciale Mobile). 3G was about introducing very basic voice, messaging, or limited data service. 4G took on more of a data component. It introduced high-speed data first and then LTE. It took a ten-year span for LTE to get to where it is today. 5G is about transforming that and looking at the true utility of what you can do over mobile.”

The difference between 3G and 4G was about speed and bringing broadband experience to mobile, Lonn says. But speed really isn’t the differentiator when it comes to 5G. “It’s about building a platform that combines better speeds, lower latency, and a much better architecture,” he says.

Linder agrees. Looking at 5G and thinking it’s just a little faster than 4G is missing the boat, he says. With 5G, the capacity will go up significantly—both upstream and downstream—and networks can be updated annually. “Now we can upgrade the networks every month… That will allow us to support all the industries around us,” he says.

Having more efficient networks will allow industries to be transformed by new capabilities. For instance, 5G will allow a full-length HD movie to download in seconds, quick reaction time to enable remote robotics, and battery lifetimes beyond ten years for remote cellular devices.

5G will also allow businesses to digitalize with more mobility, flexibility, reliability, and security, which will take Internet of Things and industrial applications to unprecedented levels. Linder characterizes 5G in these terms: “It’s like twenty-first-century farm roads that are helping to connect local businesses with the bigger economy. It’s more a digital journey.”

5G technology will make a major difference in how people learn, access information, and apply knowledge in the future. It will mean the difference between reading a printed operator’s manual and using augmented reality glasses to obtain instructions. Or instead of a traditional surveillance camera taking still pictures at low resolution, 5G will enable video to be captured in high resolution in real-time. And artificial intelligence will be able to analyze real-time video and warn businesses about what might go wrong before the event happens. “I think before we see all of these things in play, it will take another three to five years,” Linder says. “But that is the direction this is headed.”

5G will shrink the world a lot more than the previous generations of cellular network technology, according to Linder. “I think it’s fair to say 5G is the biggest capability shift ever in mobile networks,” he says. “I think it will be more transformative than the internet.”

Other telecommunication companies in Alaska also offer a positive outlook on the advent of 5G technology. Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA), for example, has been proactively preparing to leverage the benefits of 5G. “With 5G rolling out in increasingly more areas, there’s widespread agreement that 5G service would have a positive impact to the people of Alaska in terms of speed and ease,” says Jared Lindman, MTA’s director of product management. “That said, it shouldn’t be viewed as an easy—or cheap—cure-all for areas that are currently lacking in connectivity. Properly deploying 5G in Alaska will require heavy capital investments in infrastructure to disperse a signal. In addition to the high cost of deployment, there will be a significant investment of time required to work with the various levels of government necessary to install and then disperse 5G.”

For 5G to make a true impact, Lindman says, it will require a robust data network to carry the data away from 5G towers to its destination. Fiber backhaul is what makes that all possible. “Because of that, MTA has been investing in our fiber network both in our service area and with AlCan ONE—the first all-terrestrial fiber line from Alaska to the contiguous United States and the rest of the world—which will be a crucial link if 5G is ever to have mass adoption in Alaska,” Lindman says.

As a technology leader, MTA is always excited to see developing technologies like 5G evolve and integrate into Alaskans’ lives, Lindman says. “With our advanced network, the construction of AlCan ONE, and commitment to enriching the lives of our member owners, MTA continues to be well-positioned to play an important role in Alaska’s tech future and access to high-speed internet and phone service.”

Alaska Communications plays an important role in the fiber networks needed for technologies like 5G.

According to Jim Gutcher, senior director of product management and pricing, “5G has the potential to further connect our world, bringing increased bandwidth and reduced latency.”

“At Alaska Communications, we build the high-speed fiber networks that enable 5G expansion in Alaska, providing broadband connectivity to the 5G network. As we all become more connected and new applications emerge with 5G, the need for a high-speed, reliable fiber network only grows. We’re making the investments needed to enable the connected world for consumers and businesses.”

Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC) also has a keen interest in capitalizing on 5G for its customers. The member-owned entity is a 4G provider that offers residential and business phone, internet, and long-distance solutions. “ASTAC sees the opportunity to increase network efficiency by 10 to 20 percent and improve the customer experience by deploying 5G,” says Brian DeMarco, director of wireless networks. “As we continue to overlay our 4G network with LTE through 2020, 5G plays a critical part in our technology roadmap.”

This year, ASTAC is planning to hold trials to evaluate 5G applications and build use cases that bring value to its members. “Our greatest challenge is finding cost-effective ways to deliver middle mile backhaul in each rural community we serve, preparing our network for a 5G deployment,” DeMarco says. “2021 will mark ASTAC’s fortieth year operating on the North Slope. Our commitment to the people we serve has never been greater and we strive to advance 5G and all other advanced technologies to our membership across the North Slope.”