December 27, 2019 — GCI has applied to bring broadband communications to communities along the Aleutian chain.
The proposed project would bring fiber optic cable from Kodiak to Unalaska, spanning approximately 428 miles.
Dan Boyette, Vice President and General Manager of GCI, said getting the financing arranged and support from the business community for this project has proved to be a challenge.
“We’ve been working on the business case to bring fiber optic services to Unalaska along with all the communities on the southern side of the Alaska Peninsula and the Eastern Aleutians for a couple years,” Boyette said. “So that cable would originate in Kodiak and terminate in Unalaska and make stops in a total of 11 communities.”
The fiber optic cable would be loaded onto a ship that’s specifically constructed to do undersea fiber optic installations, and would be laid over 428 discontiguous miles on state-owned, Department of Mining, Land, and Water-managed tide and submerged lands, according to Boyette.