Northernmost Point in the U.S. Gains Fiber Broadband

Faster fiber broadband has reached Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost point in the U.S., according to a spokesperson for Quintillion and Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC).

Utqiagvik’s access to fiber broadband was made possible through a partnership between the two companies and currently delivers bandwidth just above the FCC defined broadband service, with a 25/5 Mbps service.

Since January 2018, ASTAC has installed over 62 miles of fiber networks connecting almost 2,200 locations to fiber, while Quintillion has laid over 1,600 miles of cable off the Alaskan Coast and down the Dalton Highway. According to ASTAC, 85% of North Slope residences now have an end-to-end fiber optic broadband connection when coupled with Quintillion’s subsea fiber optic cable network.

“Today we are proud to begin the launch of our Home Internet 25+ in Utqiaġvik, Wainwright, Point Hope and Nuiqsut,” said Jens Laipenieks, ASTAC CEO/General Manager, in a prepared statement about the Alaska broadband deployment. “This new offering will provide the speeds needed for families who continue to work and do schooling from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Customers can take advantage of a suspend feature to pause and restart their data usage throughout the billing cycle to self-manage their usage. The Home Internet 25+ plan is $75 less per month than an existing Home internet plan, according to ASTAC.

“Quintillion is proud to partner with ASTAC to bring fast, reliable, and affordable internet to these North Slope communities,” said Quintillion CEO George Tronsrue III, in a prepared statement. “Our subsea fiber network was built to help improve the lives of rural Alaska residents. These new services will do that and come at a time when they are needed more than ever.”

Another far northern Alaskan community also received similar 25/3 Mbps service recently as Copper Valley Telecom (CVT) completed an FTTH project in Tatitlek, an off-grid indigenous village in Alaska. CVT said the network previously had delivered data at 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps download, as Telecompetitor reported.