Unalaska, Alaska – August 15, 2023 – This week GCI, Alaska’s largest telecommunications provider, successfully turned up 5G mobile service in Unalaska, bringing customers lightning-fast data speeds and even more reliable voice service. The company also launched voice over LTE (VoLTE) mobile service. The upgrades are the result of a $4.9 million investment from GCI.
Unalaska residents will now enjoy the benefits of 5G mobile service in addition to the 2.5 gig internet speeds that GCI launched in the community late last year. Unalaska is one of the most remote communities in the nation and is home to Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s leading fishing ports. Positioned near the tail end of the Aleutian Chain, Unalaska is more than 4,000 miles from New York City and arguably has better connectivity. It’s a big deal!
“The community has been waiting for better wireless service and now it’s here. It’s a big deal!” said GCI Director of Rural Affairs Jenifer Nelson who grew up in the region. “GCI has been working for years on a strategy to deliver better service to customers in the Aleutians. Our Aleutians Fiber Project not only brought high speed internet to the community — it also provided the foundation that we used to upgrade wireless service. That means seamless connectivity for Unalaska.”
Nelson referenced the GCI Aleutians Fiber project, an 800-mile subsea fiber project to close the digital divide in the region. Read more about the project here.
GCI was the first provider in Alaska to launch true 5G coverage, which first launched in Anchorage in 2020, followed by Fairbanks, Palmer, Wasilla, Juneau, Eagle River and Girdwood. For more information about GCI and its 5G network, visit https://www.gci.com/mobile/5g.
