American taxpayers will fork over between $25 million to $40 million to connect a tiny North Slope village with high-speed internet.
The village of Nuiqsut, in the middle of the North Slope oil patch, is home to about 520 people. It has 125 households, which means the total cost of high-speed internet per household is at least $200,000.
Rep. Mary Peltola lauded the pork project for Nuiqsut. She says, however, that it is a $40 million grant, although she does not say where the other $15 million is coming from. Some industry sources and the USDA website, it’s clear Peltola is not reporting the grant accurately.
“These projects put money into the pockets of Alaskan workers and make rural life more feasible. Excited to see more grants like it!” Peltola wrote.
At $40 million, it would bring the cost up to $320,000 per household, compliments of American taxpayers from the West Coast to the East Coast who will be footing the bill in years ahead.
Many of the people who live in Nuiqsut do not reside there year-round, but leave for Fairbanks, Anchorage, or the Lower 48 at various times during the year. The Department of Agriculture describes the village, which is incorporated as a municipality, as “socially vulnerable.”
It’s not that the people in Nuiqsut are poor. The poverty rate is low — under 7% — because of the oil money that comes into the North Slope Borough and its communities through royalties. According to the U.S. Census, 12.4% of Americans now live in poverty, an increase from 7.4% in 2021. But Nuiqsut’s poverty rate is just 6.68%. For many who live there, oil dividends are the primary source of income.
The Nuiqsut Trapper School, with an enrollment of 125, has a 5% proficiency rate for math and English, although English is the primary language spoken in home and business in the town. More than 50% of the students are chronically absent from school. The Alaska Department of Education says that over 90% of the students are from low-income families, although that doesn’t match up with the community’s enviably low poverty rate. The average income in the town is over $105,000 per year.
The fiber optic project being paid for involves installing fiber optic cable, network infrastructure upgrades, and the linking of broadband services to homes and businesses. The fiber would go to the Quintillion undersea cable that stretches around Alaska. That cable broke this summer and the entire Arctic lacked internet for months.
Many of the internet users in the Arctic switched to Starlink during the Quintillion outages, and many of those customers have not gone back to the fiber optic broadband. There’s been no reported survey of households that are committed to hook up to the fiber.
Starlink satellite internet is already available in Nuiqsut, thanks to Elon Musk. Starlink plans, which require an upfront investment in a $599 satellite dish, would cost Nuiqsut residents $90 a month.
The fiber hookups being paid for by taxpayers are priced higher for lower speeds than Starlink has available, and at four times the cost. But the ASTAC internet provider is not even trying to compete with Starlink because the money is coming to the company in corporate welfare, no matter what.
Nuiqsut’s economy is mainly government-based employment, with more than 54% of working residents having employment in either the school district or local government or Native entities. There is also subsistence hunting, fishing, and whaling; the land provides caribou, seals, moose, waterfowl, whitefish, Arctic char, grayling, and bowhead whales at various times of year.
Nuiqsut, which was established in the 1970s after 27 Utqiagvik families moved overland to the area to be closer to Prudhoe Bay oil development, and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation funded the construction of the grid-like village, is served by scheduled and chartered flights with Wright Air Service from Utqiagvik. Freight arrives year-round by air. It is also the northernmost town in America accessible by road, having access to the Dalton Highway four months of the year.
Across the nation, similar grants are being announced for remote communities that don’t have strong internet speeds. The entire list is at this link.
The most expensive high-speed internet porn hook-up in the United States. Thanks, Mary, for helping keep Pornhub alive and well in the Arctic wilderness.
It would’ve been much cheaper to air deliver them back-issues of Playboy. Wouldn’t have to walk far to trade them with neighbors.
$320,000 is a hundo less than the port-a-potties that the MOA assembly wants to by for campers.
For well under $1,000,000, each and every person (Mom, Dad and the kids) in Nuiqsut could purchase a Starlink dish and five years of fast, reliable internet service – and have it next week.
That’s expensive Netflix and porn.
For the taxpayers.
Some smells bad. Nuiqsut is part of the north slope borough and they have a large piggy bank because of property taxes from Prudhoe Bay. This is a waste of our tax dollars.
Quintillion
What is the cost of Star Link to provide this service at commercial rates?
It’s one hell of a lot less and it would have probubly been cheeper to make sure there was a satelight pointing in the area.
It’s really sad to see this kind of waste.
$599 for the receiver, $120/mo for normal service (25 – 225 Mbps). There are roaming, priority and mobility options for more money and different up/down speeds.
Fiber to the Bush is good old fashioned Alaskan grift. Cheers –
‘https://www.satelliteinternet.com/providers/starlink/
I get 250-1000 Mbps on my Starlink, for $90/month, unlimited bandwidth. The kit was $699 last April.
For $200k-$320k per house, Does the high speed internet connection come with a free house?
Quit voting for these people! This is beyond outrageous wasteful spending.
Democrats do love pork don’t they…..never seen a Spendocrat who didn’t love to waste tax dollars. Good lord.
Of course she does, she doesn’t care about the American people, the Alaskan people (it’s their money!), she only cares about herself and her “friends” in DC. SHE NEEDS TO GO PEOPLE!!!!
Seems the cost of high speed internet is the beginning of the issues.
Come on Suzanne, you can’t put a price tag on porn streaming. Well, I guess $300,000+ is about right..
I can’t wait to vote against the worst Alaska House of Representative ever to serve in the capacity!
Golly gee… Mary and Senator Lyman Hoffman have way to many friends and family filling their pockets off of this fiasco.
Hoffman rode hard and put the spurs to any legislator that might have tried to convince the Governor into using common sense and turn down the federal funds for what everyone in the Bush already knew was unneeded, with Starlink on the verge of connecting homes in remotest places possible.
Just turn back time and follow the money. The grants started appearing and all of a sudden Corporations in Rural Alaska started popping up, with at least a 51% Native ownership. Naturally, being the government, nobody ever went village to village to do a survey on whether people wanted Satellite or hardline service. The people knew that telephone cell service was also on the horizon with Starlink. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the people are going to spend their money on.
Fast forward to this last summer and the stink of corruption called the Bethel Gag a Maggot Tour advertised as a celebration for Bidens Rural Broadband. First Lady, Sec of Interior and Mary Peltola in Bethel, hosted by Bethel Native Corporation. The high school gymnasium was the scene, MC’ed by BNC CEO, Anna Hoffman. Anna is overseeing a reputed $100 Million to hook up 8 tiny villages, one of which has already said they don’t want it and Bethel. I live in one of the Villages and the vast majority of houses have already purchased Starlink and are patiently waiting on the T-Mobile connection so we can turn our current phones into satellite phones out on the ocean or on the tundra.
By the way Senator Hoffman is the paid Chairman of the Board for BNC, and cousin in law Anna is reputedly getting a 1% performance bonus for the reputed $100 Million and last but not least, Hoffman’s other Cousin in law, Mary Peltola received a tax payer paid for campaign shindig that had above named celebrities and their armored cars for the three mile ride in a isolated community, guarded by 75 Secret Service, Bethel Police Officers and an unknown quanity of State Troopers.
Yup, just follow the money, I’m sure it’s well spent 🤣🤣 and in some cases, hidden in coffee cans and buried in the backyards of a lot of well connected Rural Citizens.
Thank you for posting this information Willy. I agree that Hoffmans and Peltola are a bunch of crooks that have too good of a thing going and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing their party parade end. Looking forward to Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Dunleavy being exposed for their dealings with these families. Question I would like truthfully answered: Is Nick Begich III in on all this dirty dealing? I never read of any of his business adventures. For a guy who is running against Peltola next year, talk sure is quiet about him. Let the truth roll!
NB3 has nothing questionable in his background – he is a man of integrity.
Ginny, I have talked to Nick on many occasions and havent had any redflags pop up about any affiliation with dirty deeds of any of the three listed above but noticed you havent mentioned Mary at all who we are striving to replace Mary.
If you think someone will come skipping down the road who is electable then great. If not do We stick with Mary?
Or give Nick a shot?
Ask Willy about Mary. My guess is He knows her better than We can even imagine.
People get to know one another(as well as their history) in smaller villages.
The smaller the village the more people know about each other. Plain and simple.
I have been fooled before but I am willing to go with Nick. Not only because Mary is as feckless and phony as Joe’s press secretary but because He has talent and experience.
Mary should have never been in that seat in the first place – it was stolen. IF Nick is the best of all candidates, I will vote for him because Mary has to go. I will be ranking the red as far as it will reach. Too bad we did not have two more Rs running just to stack the top four.
Willy, there were also paid, uniformed, off-duty Correctional Officers in the security entourage. From what I can gather, most were more interested in rubbing shoulders with Secret Service than catching a glimpse of the “celebrities”.
um, what? CO’s only do security on prisoners.
Without the Bush vote, she would have polled at about 5%. This is just bull, Elon Musk has given everyone the option of the internet without a taxpayer cost. Why do the taxpayers have to pay for a wasteful project that gives free sh– to so few.
Alaskan Natives appear to have settled nicely into their role as the Democrats’ Tundra Plantation, just as Detroit blacks long ago settled into their servile role as the Ghetto Plantation.
This is going to be a great boon to Nuiqsut in the winter, when they will download porn and subscribe to onlyfans. That is until Quintillion has another fiber break, which is just a matter of time. Who really thinks this is going to boost the economy of a village that was invented in the 1970s and survives on oil royalties.
There have been many major infrastructure projects in the past to furnish what are now considered to be essential services. What did it cost to electrify every home and farm in the West during the days of rural electrification? What did it cost per line for Ma Bell to provide its “Universal Service”? What did it cost to bring water to the farms in the West in the early 1900s? Today, high-speed internet is considered an essential service by most, promoting commerce, education, entertainment, and news – as in the ability to read this website. It’s easy to deny the nice things you have to others who are less fortunate.
Hans, just like every other radical leftist statist, you display a profound innumerate ignorance, where costs are completely divorced from all reality and all real-world consequences.
Hans, the cost is an abomination when the competing Starlink can be installed everywhere in Nuiqsuit for a fraction of the cost. Starlink is just as fast as fiber.
Hans
You need to pay more taxes Spence you want it. Step up big boy.
Meanwhile, providers will spend nary a dime to improve antiquated Internet service in Anchorage. But the Congressional delegation could careless about that situation.
Could have paid for starlink for all 125 homes for 100 years for about a third of the cost. Oh but that doesn’t put money in politicians friends pockets… I see
Sounds like a scam to me.
Wonder how much Mary P is getting in kick backs. I’m sure it’s enough to buy a new super cub.
…….and four new husbands.
Absolutely ridiculous spending. Yes kickback for sure. Why doesn’t the Native Corporation help with getting them internet?
Also if you notice she only helps Natives
Porn aside, where is the cost / benefit analysis vs Starlink?
So i have to calculate it out for it to really hit me.
Say they take the least amount= $25 million
125 households x $600 for Starlink equip=$75,000
125 households x $120 monthly service x 12 months = $180,000 per year service
$25 million less $75,000 equipment / $180,000 service for a year for the entire 125 households….
138 years later the $25 million threshold will be reached.
Use your thinkers people…
Rep. Peltola recently voted against the pay raise for our military and then followed by voting against additional funding for the VA. She is clearly not the person who promised to be a congress person for all of Alaska and to be a “different kind of democrat who’ll work across the aisle”. She has stabbed Alaska in the back numerous times since her election to the House. One more year and she’ll be gone.
The government needs high speed internet everywhere
to implement 1984.
And also to implement central bank digital currency, i.e. the cashless total-surveillance society.
I saw a map, but didn’t bookmark it (darnnit) that showed where the fiber optic lines were being laid to help fulfill O’biden’s wishes; it also showed some different markings that were identfied with the word, “Microwave”. Maybe it was an ACS article? WTH would Microwave towers be installed for? I thought they were doing fiber optic? I hear microwave and I think “CONTROL” where you will do as you are told or you get conveniently zapped by microwaves. Mind control anyone?
Depending on how far (line of sight) to hookup to the
Quintillion undersea cable, installing a microwave system
would save Quintillion (or should I say us) millions of $, be more reliable and
wouldn’t tear up the tundra.
Imagine being so narcissistic that you believe you’re entitled to $320,000 of taxpayers’ dollars to watch Netflix and porn.
Typical leftist.
So eager to spend other people’s money.
Of all the villages in Alaska Nuiqsut needs free internet the most.
The children there have more electronic devices per household than any other comparable village in Alaska.
At 5% proficiency in language and Math and 50% absenteeism there is lots of home schooling going on and their definitely gonna need internet to run those programs.
Sadly this is another failure of the entire education of youth in the village and the Elders are understandably upset with it.
Corruption, pure and simple. Follow the kickbacks & start throwing people in jail. The country cannot sustain this insanity much longer. A Starlink hookup would have been a fraction of the cost of fiber optic cable.
Follow the GCI backroom deals to Bryce Edgmon, Lyman Hoffman, and Neal Foster. 100% corrupt bastards.
Let me think about that… Ok, only ones being denied for broadband are the villagers that can’t afford to spring $650 at the present moment for a Starlink Dish.
Maybe if the thieving politicians wouldn’t steal the PFD from each and everyone of us, each and every single one of us would be living with highspeed Internet and the government would be able to use broadband money to pay down the $33+ Trillion National Debt….
She should see if they also need a few of the Anchorage Assembly’s million dollar bathrooms to go with the expensive internet.
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