Businesses, banks, hospitals, and homes in northern and northwestern Alaska are facing a challenging communication situation as a subsea fiber optic network operated by Quintillion was severed over the weekend.
The outage leaves communities such as Nome, Kotzebue, Utqiagvik, Wainwright, Point Hope, Kotzebue, and Atqasuk without internet or cell phone service, affecting essential operations and creating significant challenges for residents.
Quintillion, the company responsible for the network, has been forthcoming about the cause of the break in service, attributing it to ice movement. Repairing the damage may take up to two months, the company said, leaving the affected communities in a prolonged state of disconnection.
The impact on local businesses has been particularly challenging. Without internet or cell phone service, they are struggling to carry out credit card transactions, make phone calls, and transfer data. In a bid to continue accepting credit cards, some businesses have resorted to flying in paper receipts that require old-style carbon imprinters, harking back to a time before the digital era.
However, potential solutions lie not beneath the sea but in the sky.
Pacific Dataport, an Alaska company, offers the OneWeb Leo satellite, which could provide a faster alternative for those seeking a temporary fix. Implementing this system could take a few days, offering hope for a more immediate restoration of connectivity. Furthermore, Pacific Dataport recently launched an Aurora GEO HTS satellite designed specifically for rural areas, which is set to become operational in early August.
The severity of the situation is evident from the fact that even the Barrow Sea Ice Cam, located in Utqiagvik, ceased transmitting images on June 11. The last available image displayed sea ice still clinging to the shore. Quintillion predicts that the ice near Oliktok Point may disappear by the end of June or early July, signaling when the company can begin the repair process.
The Quintillion network, established in 2018, initially covered a 500-mile terrestrial fiber system from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. Subsequently, the company extended its reach with a groundbreaking 1,700-mile subsea fiber system—the first of its kind in the North American Arctic.
Until June 11, 2023, the network had operated flawlessly, bridging the digital divide for approximately 20,000 residents and businesses in Alaska Native communities such as Utqiaġvik, Point Hope, Wainwright, Kotzebue, and Nome. Previously lacking reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband and modern cell service, these communities now face a setback.
Quintillion’s customers also include military installations in Alaska, which have satellite redundancies to ensure communication continuity.
Grain Management, LLC, a private investment firm, acquired Quintillion in April.
Star link is undoubtedly still functional. They just lofted over a hundred more satellites
And the potential cause of this failure …
– Global Warming?
– Climate Change?
– Russian Attack?
– Or, Trumps Fault?
C’mon man, even Ray Charles can see that this is most definitely Orange Man’s fault.
You forgot COVID and gas stoves.
Now your list is complete.
Sucks to be them. I have starlink and haven’t noticed anything change
Biden did it.
They could temporarily revert to the satellite system they used before Quintillion. Or, they can beg for federal dollars to get everything back in order.. I wonder which option they will choose.
Didnt mary just tout how she brought high speed internet to rural communities?
Mary, Lisa, where’s the grift?
A rocky start and an icy present.
“The former CEO of Quintillion, a fiber optics cable company in Alaska, has been sentenced in a New York federal court to 5 years in prison for defrauding investors in New York of more than $270 million. The company reported her behavior to federal authorities after discovering a pattern of fraud in 2017.
Elizabeth Ann Pierce had pled guilty”
No doubt a simply misguided woman.
https://mustreadalaska.com/ambition-above-law-former-quintillion-ceo-sentenced-to-five-years/
Biden cut it like he did Nordstream
No. Get it right – “The north slope communities did it to themselves like the Russians cut their own pipeline”. There, fixed it for you.
So the cause was ” Ice Movement”?
Gosh that would mean that the ice must have been pretty darn thick! I’ll bet this company is telling us fibs, everybody knows that since Al Gore’s inconvenient bullsheet there isn’t any ice thats thick enough to contact the ocean bottom.
My $ says it was Putin and his retaliation for Sleepy Joe’s Nord pipeline blow up?
Yes! In 90′ of water and 4′ of dirt and mud, sounds “fishy”
Should be able to communicate the way that always was in a place that’s always been.
Then maybe…….just maybe? My bill would reflect only what I personally use and not subsidize the always been part.
GCI has microwave circuits to Nome and Kotz. What happened to their service?
GCI service was/is still working, however many of these north slope communities don’t have data or internet through GCI. It is only limited phone and text capabilities
Oh the fraud with credit card numbers printed on paper.
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