Building Alaska's telecommunications: telecom upgrades improve internet speed, reliability statewide.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: TELECOM & TECH

Alaska's telecommunications companies are upgrading their infrastructure and services to enhance the coverage, speed, and reliability of their networks. They're adding new cell towers, boosting the capacity of existing cell sites, installing more fiber optics, and leveraging partnerships and other resources.

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Telecom providers such as Alaska Communications, AT&T, GCI, Matanuska Telephone Association, and TelAlaska invested millions of dollars to lay the groundwork for even more enhancements and services in the future. Here we present a summary of some of the latest upgrades being made to enhance customers' ability to capitalize on Internet technology.

Alaska Communications Enhances its Network

Alaska Communications is excited about expanding its network to serve more Alaskans in more parts of the state. Late last year, the company received capital through the Federal Communications Commission's Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II). CAF II--also known as the universal service High-Cost program--is the FCC's program to expand access to voice and broadband services in areas where they are currently unavailable.

Alaska Communications is set to receive $19.7 million per year for ten years to deploy broadband to about 31,500 locations around Alaska, according to Rick Benken, senior director of network engineering, strategy, and management for Alaska Communications. "We'll be bringing about 25,000 of these locations Internet for the first time," he says.

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Currently, Alaska Communications is building two test locations: one in Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula and another on Chena Hot Springs Road in Fairbanks. Of the 31,500 locations the company will be able to serve with the FCC funding, about two-thirds will be in or around Kenai. The remaining one-third will be situated throughout the rest of the state, with a concentration in Fairbanks. "We're proud of our employees who are working hard and fast to connect thousands of Alaskans as soon as possible," Benken says. "For example, while we must have these locations live by 2025, our people are working to have many of them up and running as soon as possible. And the minimum speed required by the FCC under CAF II funding rules is a 10 Mbps [megabits per second] connection, while we're implementing speeds starting at 25 Mbps."

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Perhaps the most significant impact of CAF II funding is that it allows Alaska Communications to serve new areas. The company can provide more Alaskans and small businesses with secure, reliable Internet, as well as increase speeds in areas that currently have low speeds.

Alaska Communications is also engaged in new partnerships to enhance its service offerings. In May, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to become the first reseller of OneWeb-enabled broadband access in Alaska. "While not contractual, we are excited that this MOU allows us to work with OneWeb, whose goal is to bring high-speed, low-latency satellite-based broadband to Alaska," Benken says.

OneWeb uses low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which...