Under the land, beneath the sea: Alaska gets new fiber optic links to world.

• Author: Cutler, Debbie

A newly laid fiber optic link between Anchorage and Fairbanks - and soon, Alaska and the world - may result in lower phone bills and better quality service.

Until recently, Alaska relied mainly on microwave- or satellite-based communication systems for intrastate voice and data transmission. New fiber optic cables can handle about 10 times the amount of connections as the state's older systems - 30,000 simultaneous calls each traveling at the speed of light. Those numbers can even be expanded.

"It's just like buying horsepower," said John Burns, vice president of World Net Communications. "Fiber optics is like a 48 horsepower engine, and microwave is of the 3.5 horsepower variety. The difference is speed and quality."

Fiber optic cables are also considered superior for carrying voice and data communications as transmissions are clearer, delays are non-existent, and cables are insensitive to electromagnetic interference, which makes them immune to eavesdroppers. Fiber optics also allow for faster Internet service and video conferencing because of superior carrying capacity.

The new 350-mile cable joining Anchorage and Fairbanks - the longest fiber-optic link in Alaska to date - was laid along Alaska Railroad's right-of-way last summer. The $35 million cable was certified by the Alaska Public Utilities Commission for use in March, and by April the University of Alaska Anchorage was already using the data link between its two largest campuses.

Soon, similar fiber optics will connect Alaska to the world.

The Anchorage/Fairbanks cable, owned by Alaska Fiber Star, which is owned by World Net Communications, Inc. of Australia, is only a small part of fiber optic expansion in Alaska. World Net is currently linking Alaska to Portland via a marine, fiber optic cable. The first segment, a 100-mile link connecting Valdez and Whittier, is finished. A longer segment will connect Whittier to Juneau, and then Alaska to Portland. From there, Alaska will be connected to other global fiber optic cable systems.

World Net, a fiber optic warehouse of sorts, plans to sell use of their system to the likes of AT&T, Matanuska Telephone Association, and Alaska Network Systems. The Alaska project, dubbed the Alaska Northstar, should be completed by late 1998.

"There is a large demand for high-quality voice and data transmission between Alaska and the rest of the world," said Rodney T. Hudspeth, executive chair and president of World Net. "This marine cable system is...