‘My hometown used to have only one landline phone, now we have some of the fastest internet in the nation!’
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — GCI Rural Affairs Director Jenifer Nelson grew up in King Cove, a tiny seaside community of 855 people at the end of the Alaska Peninsula, and is thrilled residents now have access to GCI’s lightning-fast 2.5 gig internet speeds! Crews have been working since April to prepare the community for this life-changing level of connectivity, deploying a local fiber-optic network capable of delivering the fastest speeds GCI has to offer. With the launch of the new service, GCI customers in King Cove now have access to urban level speeds, plans and pricing.
“My hometown used to have only one landline phone, now we have some of the fastest internet in the nation!” said GCI Rural Affairs Director Jenifer Nelson, who was born and raised in King Cove. “People are not only going to be able to access everything broadband has to offer and have the world at their fingertips, but they’re also going to be able to bring themselves, their culture and their experiences to the rest of the world. It’s truly going to be transformative.”
“This is a huge win for King Cove, and we’re doing everything we can to make signing up for these game changing speeds as easy as possible,” said GCI Chief Marketing Officer Kate Slyker. “Since there’s not a local GCI retail store in the community, we’ll be reaching out directly to folks who signed up to have fiber installed directly to their homes to get them connected to GCI’s 2.5 gig residential internet service through our mail fulfillment process.”
King Cove is the third Aleutians Fiber Project community to receive GCI’s 2.5 gig residential internet service. The service was launched in Unalaska in December 2022 and in Sand Point in late November. Crews kicked off construction in early November in Akutan, preparing the community for 2.5 gig internet speeds in the coming months.
“The turn-up of 2.5 gig residential internet service in King Cove marks the halfway point of the Aleutians Fiber Project’s first phase,” said GCI Principal Program Manager Rebecca Markley. “It’s been an aggressive construction schedule in one of the state’s most-remote communities and our crews have been up to the task every step of the way. Next up, Akutan, Chignik Bay, and Larsen Bay!”
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 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.
For more information about the 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.