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GCI to install broadband network in Southwest Alaska [Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage](Alaska Journal of Commerce (Anchorage) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 5--The Internet runs at a snail's pace in most Southwest Alaska villages. Locals rely on lumbering, unreliable satellite connections for personal Web trolling, but also for crucial medical and educational services. To speed things up, Internet and cable TV provider General Communications Inc. plans to install a broadband Internet network connecting communities in Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta to its existing cable infrastructure in a project called TERRA-Southwest. A GCI press release says the new network extension will be able to serve 9,089 households and 748 businesses within 65 communities. "This is a wonderful opportunity to bring broadband services to that region of the state," said Bruce Broquet, GCI's vice president of finance. United Utilities Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GCI, received an $88 million loan and grant combination for the project from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service as part of the Broadband Initiatives Program in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Some $7.2 billion of federal stimulus money was set aside for broadband projects in rural areas. GCI's project is not the only one establishing a broadband network in Southwest Alaska: Rivada Sea Lion LLC was awarded a grant of more than $25 million to build its own broadband network in the same region. From Anchorage to Levelock, a distance of 279 miles southwest from Anchorage, the network will utilize fiber-optic technology, in which data encoded in various hues of light is transmitted over a glass or plastic fiber line. From Levelock to Emmonak, about 361 miles northwest from Levelock, the network will transition into a microwave network, in which microwave towers send signals wirelessly to receivers in the various communities. The fiber-optic line will not extend through this area because the federal government owns much of the land, and regulations can prevent a line like this one from being constructed, Broquet said. Between 30 percent and 35 percent of the state still uses the slower satellite connections, Broquet said. In Bethel, one of the communities included in the proposed network, Internet use is critical to basic infrastructural functions, from medical services to education, said Sam Blankenship, information technology administrator with the city of Bethel. Local schools utilize online classes, where a teacher uses webcam technology to teach students from afar, Blankenship said. "We'll have skips and jumps that would hinder a person's ability to comprehend what's being done on the feed," he said. Telemedical services, where nurse practitioners will serve as a doctor's "hands" while the doctor views the patient via a webcam, would also benefit from higher-quality video feeds. Telemedical services cut down on the need for medical evacuations to other communities, saving the city a good deal of money, Blankenship said. Satellite connections can be problematic for a number of reasons, Broquet said. Transponders on the satellites have a limited bandwidth capacity and each one costs tens of millions of dollars to construct, which makes improving Internet speeds by installing a new transponder difficult. Costs associated with launching a new satellite into space can also be high. And since the satellite orbits the Earth, it constantly changes position, meaning Internet speeds vary depending upon its position relative to Alaska. With a fiber-optic line, the capacity to transmit data is nearly endless, because more colors can be added to the spectrum of hues transferred over the line, Broquet said. Fiber-optic lines have a longer lifespan as well, Broquet said. While a satellite may only last 10 to 15 years before it is decommissioned and launched into deep space, a fiber-optic line can last 20 or more years, he said. While no bids have been issued to recruit contractors for the job, initial engineering work is ongoing, with network services employees ensuring that the requirements for the project will be clear and detailed when the project does go out to bid, Broquet said. By the end of the year, the firm expects to have completed a significant amount of engineering, environmental and logistical work, said Martin Cary, vice president and general manager of managed broadband services with GCI. Next year, the firm plans to begin construction of the microwave system in Bristol Bay, as well as the fiber-optic system between Homer and Levelock, Cary said. In 2012, the microwave network in Bristol Bay is slated for completion. A project of this scale would not have been possible without the stimulus money, Broquet said. Without such funding, the company could potentially work on a series of smaller projects, but nothing as large as this proposal. Contractors have not been lined up yet, but initial engineering and logistical work is underway now because a short window exists for construction in Alaska due to the harshness of winters here. "Once you've decided you're going to do it, the wheels have to start turning immediately," Broquet said. Sean Manget can be reached at [email protected]. To see more of the Alaska Journal of Commerce, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.alaskajournal.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Anchorage Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |