Quintillion Global, which suffered a serious break in its fiber optic cable in the Beaufort Sea on Jan. 18, says it believes the break is about 32-37 miles north of Oliktok Point.
The break has left much of the coastal Arctic communities without Internet access, although many people have turned to the Starlink satellite service as the breaks continue.
Oliktok Point is near where the U.S. Air Force has its Long Range Radar Site, DEW station POW-2 or NWS station A-19 and a gravel air strip owned by the Air Force.
“Since detecting the network outage on January 18, Quintillion’s team has been working around the clock to evaluate the subsea fiber cut and restore critical services. Collaborating with scientific, academic, and technical experts, Quintillion has concluded that an ice scour caused the severing of the cable approximately 32-37 miles north of Oliktok Point. Based on imaging and analysis by sea ice experts, there is clear evidence of fast ice and sea ice activity in the fault area. Quintillion is continuing our examination of the area and is working with commercial and government entities to possibly deploy remote operating vehicles with high-resolution cameras for additional forensic information,” the company wrote on its website.
As a short-term solution for its customers spread out across the Arctic coastline, Quintillion is proposing to use satellites with a hybrid of over-land fiber solutions, including linking Deadhorse and Utqiavik by land, which could possibly be completed this spring, if federal funds can be secured.
“Quintillion has aggressively moved forward with local partners to restore critical services in the near-term. While the installation process will likely take several weeks, Quintillion’s objective is to restore a significant level of service by linking our fiber between Nome and Utqiagvik with a network at the satellite ground station in Nome for additional transport capacity. This hybrid solution will provide back-up services until the fiber in the Beaufort Sea is fully repaired,” the company said.
The area where the break has occurred is not expected to be clear of sea ice until late August. The company is looking for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for a temporary solution.
“Quintillion is also working with a variety of stakeholders urging the federal government to award a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to expedite service restoration. The goal is to have FEMA funds released within the next few weeks and to begin a winter build of an interconnected terrestrial route from Utqiagvik to Deadhorse, which would effectively bypass the area of fault on the subsea network. This project, with proper support and acceleration by federal agencies, could be completed this spring. However, there is moderate probability of success, based on challenges beyond Quintillion’s control, including the permitting process being slowed by federal government rules/regulations.”
The company said it has initiated longer-term efforts to repair the subsea cable.
“Our technical team is mobilizing repair and installation vessels and formulating plans for a subsea fix, depending on additional information from our forensic investigation. As we observe significant changes in ice movement and behavior in the Beaufort Sea due to climate change, Quintillion will develop plans to reroute the Oliktok landing to work around an increasingly volatile area. Stakeholder input and coordination will be crucial,” the notice said.
“Quintillion fully understands and appreciates the urgency of the situation, given the importance of high-speed internet to so many on the North Slope and in Northwest Alaska. Our team is working tirelessly on immediate, short-term, and longer-term solutions, and we are committed to a full restoration of services as quickly as possible. While there is much beyond Quintillion’s control and in the hands of the federal government and nature, we will not stop working until the job is complete. We appreciate the ongoing support and assistance from our community partners and Alaska’s elected officials, and we will continue to provide updates as developments occur,” CEO Mac McHale said.
I can’t believe we are letting them to keep asking for government funding for a system that will always be prone to failures. We should cut them off at the pockets and let other businesses propose and let the best horse jump the fence.
Is the undersea Quintinllian FO Cable the Primary backbone for communications? What’s their other back-up options (ie: Plans “A” “B” and “C”)?
Install the FO Cable on shore, underground and/or overhead.
Or, swing a deal and pursue a long term contract w/ StarLink.
As the Oil industry has stalled opening more drilling, & as they are the power on the slope & need the svc more than any others, & as the subsea cable will continue to experience breaks, it seems an ideal opportunity for Trump & Dunlevy to make a deal w/the slope oil industry: get more contracts w/oil to drill baby drill for a long term contract w/Starlink.
Yet again, someone should have
Read the article. 95% of what you are asking if in the article.
Yet another boondoggle.
“Seeking federal money”… Tell them NO, period. If their service is that good and economically viable, they would complete the repair themselves. Time to plug this money drain and have them hook up with Starlink.
Follow the money – quintillion makes a huge profit from government handouts, and is otherwise bankrupt.
No prob…I think Starlink has a basic, no frills easy DIY install between $160 & $200 pr month + equipment. But it will probably go down in heavy snow storms or rain. It must have clear line of sight… not even 1 tree. Lastly, there is a latitude limit to the North. Not sure about the Aurora’s electromagnetic interference. Definitely look into that. There are also PTP (Point-to-Point) possibilities for certain problem areas.
I live in West Anchorage/Turnagain. Starlink dish is on the roof. I think it has been down for 15 minutes in the last year. $90/mo.
People all over Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow are very happy as well.
Lost us at “urging the federal government to award a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to expedite service restoration.”
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Might be interesting to find out whether taxpayers were on the hook for restoring telecommunication after Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina and if not, why should taxpayers be forced to bail out Quintillion for something the Q damn well knew would happen?
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Better yet, instead of FEMA bailouts for a problem that -will- happen again, what it would take to persuade the Q to ditch their cable boondoggle, switch every customer to Starlink?
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Outfits like ATT and FAA went to satellite for long haul decades ago, but Quintillion can’t do this …remind us again why?
Read this if you want a “holy shite” moment. Quintillion Global is privately held, so there’s no valuation available. Yet they’re fully funded by taxpayers money with D.C. insider agreements.
‘https://graingp.com/news/grain-management-completes-acquisition-of-american-arctic-fiber-provider-quintillion/
Can’t the locals with their multi-billion dollar assets (ASRC, etc.) take care of their own phone bill?
Refurbished Starlink terminal is around $300. Standard service for households starts at $120/month with higher rates for mobile service. Cheers –
Lot of people blaming problems on ice lately.
Was the cable installation mainly manuel labor?
If Q is such a good idea let them prove it by attracting private capital.
There’s a reason why other telecoms in Alaska did not install fiber under the Arctic Ocean. This will happen every year or two. They can’t bury that fiber deep enough. And isn’t this the same Quintillion that had a CEO who was sent to prison for defrauding investors?
I don’t think the bury the undersea cable at all, they just lay it down off a reel off the back of a ship.
Wrong. In shallow and near-shore areas, the fiber is buried. Only in the deepest water or rocky bottoms is it just laid on the surface. The fiber is indeed buried in this area.
Lots of Liberal speak going on here…”We’ll ask FEMA…, our teams are working…, we have partners…, and as always, blame climate change. The only thing missing is blaming Trump.
Give them time. Quintillion was founded and funded by a Russian oligarch. Those are two of the (D)ems’ big buzzwords lately.
Not quite true. Len Blavatnik’s family moved to the US in 1978, graduated from Columbia in 1981.
After last years break, Q just happened to stockpile terrestrial fiber cable.
After this years fiber break, Q just needs to bypass permitting and environmental regulations.
After the environmental process is bypassed, Q just needs government money to lay the unpermitted terrestrial cable to Deadhorse, where other companies alread paid to install fiber.
Then the boroughs and billion dollar native corporations will have their internet restored.
$89M
Eighty nine million dollars.
Think what Ukraine could do with that against the russkies!
Our government is so terribly inept, incompetent, and ineffective. It really is hard to fathom just how bad it is.
DOGE is going to be eye opening.
This is what happens when corrupt legislators are in office for too long. They make decisions that benefit them and then do not what is best for their district, but what lobbyists want! Sometimes Federal Grants need to be turned down when they over money for things that should not happen!
From where I stand, seems like amateur hr. What a joke. Everyone who is involved is out of their league.
It’d be a business expense for the oil industries thus a tax deduction so no cost at all… No FEMA or other tax payer help needed!
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