GCI connected the first Unalaska residents to its fastest two gigabit internet speeds this week. While some Unalaska residents now have fiber internet access, the majority of community members will need to wait until next year to log on.
This is a bit later than the company expected — GCI had planned for a launch at the end of this year. However, the launch of high-speed internet is still weeks away for most islanders. The company announced Thursday that the island-wide launch for high-speed internet service will be done in phases and won’t happen before mid-January.
This announcement comes less than a month after the fiberoptic cables were severely damaged by a ship’s anchor. However, the company remains optimistic about the expected end-of-year launch.
GCI’s AU–Aleutians Fiber project, an undersea cable that runs from Kodiak and Unalaska that promises high-speed broadband connectivity across the Aleutian chain, has been in development for more than two decades.
A spokesperson for the company stated that there should be unlimited capacity. This is better than what Anchorage and other urban areas get. Unalaskanes can expect speeds of two-gigabits, which is approximately two-thousand times faster that what locals get.
After the service is launched to the island, the company will continue to connect communities along the Aleutian Chain, Alaska Peninsula, and Chignik Bay. These communities will be online in the next two-years.
