Telecom & Tech
Constantly Connecting
Improving rural telecommunication services critical for Alaskans’ quality of life
By Tracy Barbour
A

s a new decade dawns, even the most isolated communities in Alaska are becoming more connected to the rest of the state—and world—thanks to terrestrial microwave, subsea fiber, satellite, and other technology. Alaska’s leading telecommunications companies are making this possible through continuous investments in their infrastructure, improving connectivity in remote areas from the North Slope to Western Alaska to the Aleutian Islands.

Importance of Telecom Services in Rural Alaska
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who live in rural areas are more likely to die prematurely from heart disease, cancer, and stroke than residents in urban settings. One of the reasons is a lack of access to healthcare, and telehealth helps close this gap by using technology to improve access to doctors and specialists.

Alaska Communications is combating healthcare disparity by connecting its rural healthcare business partners with access to the technology they need to offer these important services in their local communities. Access to telecommunications services, specifically broadband, has many positive impacts for both rural Alaska residents and businesses, according to Jim Gutcher, vice president of strategy and product management at Alaska Communications. “It helps connect people with critical services, like healthcare and education,” he says. “It can also improve quality of life by providing a link to family and entertainment options.”

GCI
Constantly Connecting
Improving rural telecommunication services critical for Alaskans’ quality of life
By Tracy Barbour
A

s a new decade dawns, even the most isolated communities in Alaska are becoming more connected to the rest of the state—and world—thanks to terrestrial microwave, subsea fiber, satellite, and other technology. Alaska’s leading telecommunications companies are making this possible through continuous investments in their infrastructure, improving connectivity in remote areas from the North Slope to Western Alaska to the Aleutian Islands.

Importance of Telecom Services in Rural Alaska
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who live in rural areas are more likely to die prematurely from heart disease, cancer, and stroke than residents in urban settings. One of the reasons is a lack of access to healthcare, and telehealth helps close this gap by using technology to improve access to doctors and specialists.

Alaska Communications is combating healthcare disparity by connecting its rural healthcare business partners with access to the technology they need to offer these important services in their local communities. Access to telecommunications services, specifically broadband, has many positive impacts for both rural Alaska residents and businesses, according to Jim Gutcher, vice president of strategy and product management at Alaska Communications. “It helps connect people with critical services, like healthcare and education,” he says. “It can also improve quality of life by providing a link to family and entertainment options.”

Having internet connectivity enriches life in general for rural Alaskans. A prime example is Larsen Bay resident Erik O’Brien, who struggled with work-life balance until the internet literally changed his life. “My saving grace came when Alaska Communications turned on reliable internet,” he explains.

“With these new tools, I was able to negotiate a flexible working environment, ensuring certain obligations to my employer while living and working in Larsen Bay. The best part about the internet in Larsen Bay is disconnecting and spending time in the skiff with my wife and daughters, fishing, exploring, and living the life I always wanted to provide for myself and my family—and the next morning going to work like any other day, just 400 miles away.”

GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications provider, is also adamant about delivering technology that helps bridge the digital divide in Alaska’s farthest locales. Increasing connectivity in rural Alaska improves opportunities for everyone, says President and COO Greg Chapados. Enhanced telecom services not only facilitate the delivery of healthcare and education but also impact staff recruitment and retention in these and other industries.

Explaining the potential professional impact, Chapados says: “You might have people who don’t want to move from home to urban areas. Maybe they don’t have to do that. Maybe they can work in a distributed workforce model and stay in rural Alaska.”

He adds, “We’re creating opportunities for folks that previously felt they were up against the wall: Either you have a career and sacrifice the connections to the community that you love or stay at home and not have a career.”

Connecting Alaskans on the North Slope to technology is the focus at Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC). The cooperative provides residential and business phone and internet services to Deadhorse and eight North Slope communities: Point Lay, Point Hope, Atqasuk, Kaktovik, Utqiaġvik, Anaktuvuk Pass, Wainwright, and Nuiqsut.

Internet service is vital in these locations because they are not road-connected; reaching these areas requires hopping on a boat or plane. “When you get to these communities, there can be a feeling of isolation,” ASTAC COO Brian DeMarco says. “Fairbanks is the largest closest city, which is about 120 miles away. The remoteness is real, and the internet eliminates that barrier.”

Workers working on cell tower equipment near Kotzebue
Workers on equipment near Kotzebue.

GCI

Having internet access, DeMarco says, has been especially critical for Alaskans during the pandemic because it has helped keep everyone connected and moving in the same direction.

As a member-owned cooperative, ASTAC is keenly interested in using technology to improve the quality of life for its members, who are customers and are also residents of the North Slope. It comes down to connecting people, he says, elaborating: “We want to be able to give them the option. If they want to stay on the North Slope and live a subsistence lifestyle, the internet should not be the deciding factor.”

Michael Burke, CEO of Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA), views broadband internet as an essential element for economic development and a crucial part of society. This is especially true for a colossal state like Alaska, where many communities are located off the road system. In fact, Burke says, making improvements to telecom infrastructure is probably more important in Alaska than in other parts of the country because of its remote nature. “That electronic connection is critical for the people up here; without it, it is difficult for anyone to function,” Burke says.

Alaska Communications Increases High-Speed Internet Service
In 2020 alone, Alaska Communications launched or expanded high-speed service available to homes and businesses in Delta Junction, Fairbanks, Homer, Hope, Kake, Kasilof, Kenai, Ninilchik, North Pole, Soldotna, Sterling, and Thorne Bay. This expansion is funded, in part, by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Connect America Fund Phase II program.

The company employs a variety of technologies in rural settings, including fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL), microwave, fixed wireless, and satellite. Gutcher explains: “We use the best technology solution available, depending on population density, location, geography/terrain, and obstructions. We’re always looking at upcoming innovations to improve rural connectivity.”

Portrait photo of Jim Gutcher
Jim Gutcher
Alaska Communications
Connecting rural areas requires heavy investment in what is known as middle mile and last mile. Middle mile is the segment of the network linking the core network to the rural area providing the backhaul while the last mile refers to the network components that deliver the connectivity to the customer. “Bridging the digital divide requires long-term investment, including investing in accessible and affordable middle mile infrastructure,” Gutcher says.

Alaska Communications has a number of projects underway to expand and improve connectivity. In 2021, it is expanding and upgrading its network to deliver high-speed internet to more statewide locations. This includes enhanced speeds and increased availability in both rural and urban areas of Alaska. “These network improvements demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with the services they need to access work, education, healthcare, and more,” Gutcher says.

He continues, “As part of its CAF II program—bringing high-speed access to rural areas—we chose to deliver higher speeds up to 50 Mbps [megabits per second] download and 10 Mbps upload whenever possible to deliver additional value to our customers.”

Another example is Alaska Communications’ high-speed internet option for multi-dwelling units, InternetNow. Fiber to the building lets an individual unit/room/apartment instantly connect to speeds of up to 250 Mbps upload and download. “This unprecedented upload speed provides an outstanding experience for gaming, streaming, and more,” Gutcher says. “Two examples of rural locations where we offer InternetNow are Whittier and Fort Wainwright military base.”

In Alaska’s more populated areas like Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska Communications has plans to provide internet speeds of up to 1 gigabyte with AKXtreme Internet. The service will launch in the Fairbanks area in May and later this year in Anchorage.

There are many challenges that come with connecting remote areas. Alaska Communications’ technicians travel by plane, boat, four-wheeler—whatever it takes—to make repairs or install new services at out-of-the way locations. They often pack along their own food and have limited lodging options. “While in Thorne Bay installing new service, Tim White, Alaska Communications’ network technician foreman, got creative with his sleeping arrangements,” Gutcher says. “Rather than sleep in our central office, Tim slept in his silicone-poly tent. He also designed and made a hammock and sleeping bag. This is an excellent example of the ingenuity, grit, and dedication Alaska Communications employees have to their customers and communities.”

From a broader perspective, Gutcher says that a connected rural Alaska is good for the state’s residents and for its businesses. “Innovation is an ongoing driver to keep pushing the boundaries, finding new ways to bring internet to more locations, and with higher speeds,” he says. “Alaska Communications is committed to investing in Alaska.”

Portrait photo of Brian DeMarco
Brian DeMarco
ASTAC
ASTAC Improves Wireless Coverage and Safety
Anchorage-based ASTAC is making substantial improvements to its telecom infrastructure. Over the last three years, the company has deployed Long Term Evolution (LTE) in the nine communities in its coverage area.

In January, ASTAC expanded its wireless network to install three new 4G LTE sites on the Dalton Highway, making it the first telecommunications company to provide wireless coverage from the Brooks Range to Deadhorse—where no other coverage had existed previously. The new wireless sites will enhance safety and connectivity along this 414-mile critical corridor for ASTAC and AT&T wireless customers. ASTAC plans to turn up three additional sites on the Dalton Highway in this year.

“We’ve made significant progress for how people can stay connected, and we are proud of that,” DeMarco says.

Having good wireless coverage on the Dalton highway is important because it facilitates the movement of vehicles, personal goods, and other necessities for residents and travelers. “We continue to make sure that we’re providing communications and covering the corridors that our customers travel as much as we can,” DeMarco says.

Other improvements ASTAC is making to enhance rural areas include augmenting its fiber network and broadband service in Atqasuk under a $3 million Community Connect Grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA); expanding broadband to Kaktovik as part of a $5.3 million grant under the USDA’s RUS Rural E-Connectivity program; and bringing the fastest internet speed to the North Slope through its Home Internet 25+ service.

Since 2015, ASTAC has invested more than $50 million in its fiber optic networks and other telecommunications infrastructure in Alaska. DeMarco says it’s exciting to transform telecommunications in the communities ASTAC serves. However, he adds, ASTAC would not be where it is today without Quintillion’s subsea fiber, which has propelled telecom on the North Slope.

ASTAC is a “small company doing big things,” DeMarco says. And it thrives on enhancing services for customers wherever there is an opportunity. He says, “We are always trying to extend our network to provide seamless coverage and a standard for our customers that they can come to expect.”

A woman having a telehealth conference with her doctor
Alaska Communications provides rural healthcare business partners the technology needed to offer telehealth to their communities.

Alaska Communications

GCI Focuses on Expanding Broadband
GCI provides data, mobile, video, voice, and managed services to consumer, business, government, and carrier customers throughout Alaska, serving more than 240 communities. Over the past forty years, the company has invested more than $3 billion in its Alaska facilities and network—with a large chunk of that investment made in rural Alaska.

Currently, GCI is focused on expanding its terrestrial broadband networks in rural Alaska through fiber. Fiber is the gold standard because of its reliability, low latency, enormous capacity, and long life. “When we deploy fiber, it is a future-proof solution,” Chapados says. “As demand increases, we can increase the backbone capacity to meet that demand.”

Despite its advantages, fiber is not always the most feasible solution for delivering technology because it requires a significant upfront investment. Because of this, Chapados says, GCI still believes there is a role for satellite in Alaska, including geosynchronous satellite. And the company is exploring options with low earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Federal funding like the $25 million USDA ReConnect grant GCI received last year helps facilitate fiber-related improvements in Alaska. The grant, which GCI is matching with $35 million, will be used to support GCI’s AU-Aleutians Fiber Project. The project will provide terrestrial broadband service for the first time to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor—home to the country’s largest fishing port—and five other Aleutian communities: King Cove, Sand Point, Akutan, Chignik Bay, and Larsen Bay. As part of this undertaking, the company will lay 800 miles of fiber undersea over the next several years, running from Kodiak along the south side of the Alaskan Peninsula and the Aleutians to Unalaska.

Portrait photo of Greg Chapados
Greg Chapados
GCI
“Creating reliable, fast service in the Aleutians will bring life-changing opportunities to the people who live there,” Chapados says. “High-speed, 1 Gig home internet will be a reality for the first time, providing an opportunity to use streaming services and home e-learning tools.”

Continuing, he says: “Fiber-based connectivity will be a game-changer for local industries, too… GCI’s 1 Gig service will be as good or better than service available in many Lower 48 urban centers including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.”

GCI also initiated a project to bring faster data speeds to Bristol Bay last year. The company launched its first upgraded wireless sites in Dillingham as part of a project to provide improved voice service and faster mobile data speeds to the area. And in January, GCI announced a partnership with Quintillion—the only telecommunications company providing fiber-optic broadband to Alaska’s Arctic communities—that will result in improved services in Nome and Kotzebue. The partnership will provide the residents of both communities access to 1 Gig internet speeds like those in Anchorage and Fairbanks, transforming their telecommuting and streaming options. “That’s a massive change; it’s bringing the urban experience out to rural Alaska,” Chapados says.

The partnership with Quintillion also will bring internet protocol television (IPTV) services and support GCI’s ongoing upgrade to 4G LTE wireless service for Nome and Kotzebue residents. In addition, GCI is exploring the option of expanding fiber service to Bethel. The timeframe for making this project happen would be in the next three to five years, Chapados says.

Leonardo DRS Continues to Invest in Alaska
As part of its effort to improve rural telecom in Alaska, Leonardo DRS continues to invest in infrastructure, research and development, industry relationships, and its people. Leonardo DRS—formerly DRS Technologies—is an Arlington, Virginia-based defense contractor that has been doing business in Alaska for nearly twenty years. The company is making ongoing investments in its approximately 600-mile, self-funded microwave network from Fairbanks, following the Yukon Koyukuk River to Allakaket. “Our Alaskan network also includes satellite connectivity with redundant satellite teleports and fiber circuits spanning Alaska’s northern arctic coast down through Deadhorse, Fairbanks, and to Anchorage, which now connects to the Leonardo DRS Global Communications Network [GCN],” says Anchorage-based Business Development Manager Vickie Kelly. “By integrating the Alaskan network into the robust Leonardo DRS GCN, Alaska customers benefit from the increased availability, security, and resiliency that our other mission-critical US government customers rely on. Leonardo DRS also invests in regular technology refreshes to eliminate communication bottlenecks and obsolescence while also increasing speed and capacity.”

The company’s research and development investments include the addition of the Leonardo DRS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Customer Portal as well as testing, evaluation, and integration of emerging technologies such as LEO satellite services. “LEO is of high interest to the communications market because it provides high-speed, low-latency internet access to rural areas,” Kelly says. “Furthermore, LEO service is best suited for Alaska and polar regions because it eliminates scan angle restrictions applicable to the GEO and MEO [medium earth orbit] satellites. As the top provider of satellite communications to the US government, the LEO operators are working with us to bring this much needed service into the Leonardo DRS ICT Ecosystem.”

Recently, Leonardo DRS has undertaken initiatives that entail technology refresh and augmentation of its existing infrastructure that includes LEO satellite connectivity. The integration of LEO services into the company’s ICT Ecosystem, Kelly says, is probably the most interesting of its current projects designed to improve connectivity to rural Alaska. Leonardo DRS is in the initial service testing phase of the integration. “We are convinced that this LEO service integration would not be possible if it were not for our position as the top commercial satellite integrator for the US government,” she says. “Having the depth of experience, along with the breadth of our customers, is what provides the LEO operators the confidence to work with us.”

She continues: “We are working with leading LEO operators, and we will provide the services that meet our Alaska customer requirements, such as throughput, capacity, near-real time latency, high resiliency, and availability.”

Additional Leonardo DRS projects to enhance connectivity to rural Alaska include upgrades to its self-funded microwave backbone and to two satellite communication teleport hubs in Fairbanks and in Brewster, Washington. “These improvements enhance auto-correction to redundant nodes when the need arises, ultimately improving network resiliency and bringing better communications to Alaska,” Kelly says.

Leonardo DRS also recently completed an extension of its microwave network to Indian Mountain to serve the communities of Allakaket and Alatna.

Vickie Kelly - Leonardo DRS
Vickie Kelly
Leonardo DRS
MTA Takes Fiber to More Homes and Businesses
Established in 1953, Palmer-based MTA provides high-speed broadband and fiber internet, among other services, to help its member-owners and patrons live a connected life.

Last year, MTA was awarded a $1.9 million grant from the USDA ReConnect Program, which focuses on building broadband infrastructure in rural America. MTA will use the grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, connecting 463 people to high-speed broadband in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, passing 220 lots and connecting 65 structures.

Like many companies in Alaska, MTA received funding from the FCC under the Alaska Plan to upgrade and extend broadband services. The Alaska Plan, approved in August 2016, secured $152 million of federal funding per year through 2026 to support wireless and internet service upgrades.

GCI moving cell tower equipment near Kotzebue using a helicopter
GCI moving equipment near Kotzebue.

GCI

In the last four years, MTA has invested $155 million in network improvements to meet increased demand for greater bandwidth. The recently completed AlCan ONE fiber optic line is a crucial upgrade that makes it easier for MTA to adapt to its customers changing and expanding needs. “We did that because we know the internet continues to grow, and we need capacity to feed that,” Burke says.

AlCan ONE is the first and only all-terrestrial fiber route that connects Alaska with the contiguous United States and beyond. The route, which extends through several Canadian carriers, is designed to ensure the future viability and growth of fiber networks for Alaska.

Portrait photo of Michael Burke
Michael Burke
MTA
Eventually, the company plans to get internet speeds up to 1 Gig for all customers in its market, Burke says. However, with Alaska’s shortened construction season and limited availability of construction crews, it will take a few years to get there.

Along with its planned projects, like putting in fiber for residential and commercial customers, MTA has made substantial efforts to help Alaskans connect with each, especially those people who rely on public WiFi spots, such as libraries and cafés. To help close that connectivity gap, MTA established WiFi hotspots for the public. “There were a number of people who relied upon libraries for their internet connections, so we set up free, public WiFi—thirty-three hotspots,” he says. “That way, they still had that connectivity.”

Burke goes on to say, “When COVID hit, we enabled distance learning for students. There are 3,000 local students and educators, and we gave them those upgrades free of charge.”

Residents, businesses, and government offices have given MTA positive feedback about its efforts to keep everyone connected—especially during the pandemic. Burke says: “I think as people have had a greater need for internet, they really appreciate us. We’ve gotten calls from outside our service area from people who are interested in what we have been doing.”

MTA has also garnered industry recognition recently for its efforts to improve rural telecom. For example, the company was honored with the FCC’s Digital Opportunity Equity Recognition or DOER Award for going the extra mile to provide internet access during the pandemic. Burke says, “We were very proud and touched that the FCC gave that to us because only a few companies received it.

“This is a race that will never end; broadband will continue to evolve, and the needs will continue to grow,” he says.