Western Alaska lost internet service in January after sea ice severed the fiber-optic cable providing service to the region. A similar outage followed a break in the cable in the summer of 2023, although this time around the break will take much longer to find and repair.
Mac McHale is president of Quintillion, the company behind the cable. He says that the break most likely occurred off Alaska’s northern coast in the Beaufort Sea, however pinpointing it is impossible for now due to sea ice and wintertime darkness, and a repair vessel could not arrive until late summer. One potential solution is an overland cable stretching 230 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Utqiagvik to circumvent the severed stretch of cable.
This internet outage highlights yet again how indispensable radio is for Western Alaska. With unreliable internet service in the best of circumstances, communities in the region depend on KNOM for companionship, news, and vital information. Thank you for making this service possible!
