Satellites Beyond the Northern Lights: Enhancing connectivity and quality of life in rural Alaska.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: ALASKA NATIVE SPECIAL SECTION

Internet access in rural Alaska can be notoriously expensive, slow, and sometimes unreliable, making the prospect of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite from OneWeb Technology, SpaceX's Starlink, and Amazon's Kuiper all the more intriguing for people living in remote villages and cities.

These impending services, along with next-generation geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) satellites, promise to dramatically improve internet connectivity and costs--as well as the quality of life for rural Alaskans.

But all of this remains to be seen as Alaska's telecommunications companies and other stakeholders entertain the potential impact that LEO satellite service can have on rural connectivity. Regardless of the implications, industry experts maintain that the state needs LEO/GEO satellite-enabled broadband, combined with other technologies, to best meet the internet demands of all Alaskans. Some Alaska telecoms are collaborating to support these efforts; others are waiting and watching with guarded optimism.

LEO satellites represent a promising technological solution for broadband internet, which is by FCC standards at least 25 megabits per second (Mbps) for download and 3 Mbps for upload speeds. LEO satellites generally orbit less than 1,400 kilometers above the earth--much closer than GEO satellites, which typically operate at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers.

Because LEOs circle the earth at lower altitudes, they can integrate with on-ground data networks to deliver internet service with less latency than their GEO counterparts. However, latency--the time it takes data to travel from the consumer to an internet exchange and back to the consumer--can be impeded by trees, poles, chimneys, and other objects.

Like GEOs, LEO technology is especially applicable for remote areas lacking access to the speed or capacity from terrestrial systems like fiber and microwave. In the future, LEOs and a new generation of GEO satellite providers aspire to deliver fast, reliable, low-latency, and more affordable internet that is comparable to the broadband service delivered over fiber.

OneWeb Satellite Constellation Progresses

While SpaceX, mostly owned by Elon Musk, and Amazon continue developing their plans to bring LEO satellite broadband to Alaska, London-based OneWeb recently fulfilled its capacity to deliver LEO satellite internet to the state. On July 1, OneWeb launched 36 additional satellites, bringing the constellation total to 254 in polar orbit for full coverage of Alaska. This will allow high-speed connectivity to be available from the North Pole to the 50th parallel, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Alaska, and the Arctic Region.

OneWeb is on track for full global coverage by June 2022 with a LEO constellation of 648 satellites, according to Lesil McGuire. a OneWeb advisor and former Alaska state senator. This latest development is momentous for Alaska and OneWeb, which was the first licensed LEO satellite constellation back in September 2017. "It's exciting to be part of something that puts Alaska first," McGuire says.

The prioritization of Alaska makes practical sense given that its 733,000 residents are spread across a massive state that is one-third the size of the contiguous United States. Some communities may have as few as 38 people, and they want connectivity--but they have been left behind in the "digital divide," McGuire says. "We still have approximately 30,000 Alaskans that are completely unconnected and 150,000 that are under connected," she explains. "Despite the decades of investments and hard work of existing telecoms. Alaska remains the least-connected state."

OneWeb aims to change that by providing much-needed, low-latency satellite broadband. And OneWeb's LEO constellation will generate a constant signal so that customers never lose the connectivity, which is crucial for the delivery of telehealth, remote education, and other essential services.

OneWeb Technology is owned by the UK government and Bharti Global, and its LEO constellation is a private-sector...