21st Century Tech on the North Slope: Resource development moves at lightning speed with fiber optic, IoT.

AuthorBarbour, Tracy
PositionTELECOM & TECH

Imagine an oilfield camp sitting in the middle of nowhere on Alaska's North Slope in December. A giant drilling rig, cranes, and other equipment dominate the landscape as workers busily prepare for the painstaking task of drilling.

But before drilling can begin, reliable telecommunications services must be established to support the makeshift camp. Telecom equipment is hauled to the remote location and installed in sub-zero temperatures and sometimes blinding blizzards. And that's just a fraction of the challenges businesses face while providing telecommunications services to oil and gas and support services companies in Alaska.

There are a variety of companies that supply telecom services to oilfields, offshore drilling rigs, and cargo ships that support the statewide efforts of Alaska's oil and gas businesses.

Alaska Communications Invests in Fiber and Satellite

Headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska Communications is a leading provider of advanced broadband and IT managed service solutions for businesses and consumers in Alaska. The company operates an advanced, statewide data and voice network with the latest technology and diverse undersea fiber optic system connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States.

Alaska Communications works closely with its oil and gas customers to develop industry-specific, custom solutions including a full range of custom data, managed IT, and voice services to companies that operate both in the field and on rigs. The company has also built custom Wi-Fi networks for marine vessels.

"Currently, we work with multiple oil and gas companies from explorers and producers to suppliers in Alaska and the Lower 48, including Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico," says Bill Bishop, senior vice president of Business Markets.

Several years ago, Alaska Communications partnered with Quintillion Holdings to give Alaska's North Slope oil and gas companies access to reliable, high-speed broadband service through fiber optic networks. Alaska Communications acquired a fiber optic network from ConocoPhillips in the portion of Alaska's North Slope oil patch where the most new development is occurring.

According to a company press release from 2015, the network was designed to enable commercially-available, high-speed connectivity where only high-cost microwave and satellite communications were previously accessible. In addition to its focused service offerings to business and enterprise customers, Alaska Communications and Quintillion also partnered to make the network available to other telecom carriers in the market, further increasing the variety of new product and service offerings.

The fiber investment boosted connectivity to a number of oil and gas fields, including the Kuparuk River Unit, Colville River Unit, Milne Point Unit, Prudhoe Bay Unit, and Oooguruk Unit. It also added to Alaska Communications' portfolio of managed IT solutions and professional services on the North Slope and is part of the company's continued focus to provide reliable broadband and IT solutions across Alaska.

Last year, Alaska Communications worked with Quintillion again to secure fiber optic access--this time for Northwest Alaska. The agreement gave Native corporations, government agencies, healthcare clinics, and schools in Northwest Alaska access to competitive, high-speed, reliable broadband and managed IT services for the first time in this region. It also brings high-speed fiber optic access, on a substantially more affordable basis, to these communities.

Under the deal, Alaska Communications will be a reseller to select telecom carriers in addition to serving business customers with its expanded network. And Quintillion will purchase capacity services for its newly constructed terrestrial system to the oil fields of the North Slope on Alaska Communications' fiber optic network from Fairbanks to the Lower 48.

Also as part of the 2017 agreement, Alaska Communications will connect the original fiber to its existing network via Quintillion's

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