GCI Aleutians Fiber Project construction is underway in Chignik Bay
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Construction is underway in the GCI Aleutians Fiber Project community of Chignik Bay. Crews kicked off groundwork in early April digging trenches and installing fiber conduit throughout the community in preparation for the deployment of fiber-optic cable directly to homes and businesses. Once complete, Chignik Bay residents will have access to 2.5 gig consumer internet speeds, plans and pricing.
GCI and its contractor crews from Utility Technologies Inc. (UTI) have worked closely with local officials throughout the project.
“Being in lockstep with each community we’re working in is very important, especially in rural Alaska,” said GCI Project Manager Jerry Walker. “Before starting groundwork, the GCI project team and our contractor partners at UTI met with local leadership to finalize our construction plans and make sure we have the right permissions and processes in place to install fiber directly to residents’ homes and local businesses.”
Construction kicked off April 5 in Chignik Bay. GCI expects to begin construction in Larsen Bay this summer. Chignik Bay and Larsen Bay will be the fifth and sixth communities connected through the GCI Aleutians Fiber Project.
The first phase of the $100 million project is partially funded by a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s ReConnect Program. It includes an 800-mile-long subsea fiber-optic backbone, deployed in 2022, and the delivery of high-speed internet to Unalaska, King Cove, Sand Point, Akutan, Chignik Bay and Larsen Bay.
The second phase of the project leverages the 800-mile subsea fiber to deliver service to six more communities in the region. The Native Village of Port Lions, in partnership with GCI, was awarded a $29.3 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to bring connectivity to Chignik Lagoon, Chignik Lake, Cold Bay, False Pass, Ouzinkie and Port Lions in the coming years.
For more information on GCI’s Aleutians Fiber Project, visit https://www.gci.com/aleutianfiberproject.
About GCI
Headquartered in Alaska, GCI provides data, mobile, video, voice and managed services to consumer, business, government, and carrier customers throughout Alaska, serving more than 200 communities. The company has invested more than $4 billion in its Alaska network and facilities over the past 40 years and recently launched true standards-based 5G NR service in Anchorage, now the nation’s northernmost 5G service area. Learn more about GCI at www.gci.com. GCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband Corporation (Nasdaq: LBRDA, LBRDK, LBRDP). Learn more about Liberty Broadband at http://www.libertybroadband.com.