GCI dips into 'Alaska Plan' for LTE speed upgrades in remote areas

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Seventeen rural Alaska communities are expected to receive connectivity upgrades in 2021 through GCI's Alaska Plan buildout. Federal funding from the Alaska Plan helps GCI invest in the technology and infrastructure necessary to connect some of the smallest and most remote communities in the nation.

In 2021, 11 communities will get faster wireless service through LTE upgrades, including Kodiak, Nome, Valdez, Kotzebue, Tok, Dillingham, Manokotak, Aleknagik, Clark's Point, Becker Ridge, and Fritz Creek. Additionally, six communities will get terrestrial internet service for the first time: Nikolai, Lime Village, Rampart, Central, Lake Minchumina, and Takotna.

The Alaska Plan, adopted by the FCC in August 2016, provides federal funds to Alaska's telecommunications providers in order to support investment in rural wireless and internet service upgrades. Federal funding helps make rural investment and maintenance possible in extremely remote, costly and difficult-to-serve communities. GCI, along with other Alaska providers, receives a portion of Alaska Plan funding each year.

GCI
GCI's Alaska Plan investment