Hybrid solution proposed for internet restoration

It’s been almost 20 days since the Quintillion fiber optic cable was scoured by ice resulting in slow or no internet in communities across western and northwestern Alaska, with repairs not possible until late summer, early fall.
On Monday, February 3, Quintillion President Mac McHale announced the company is working to implement a hybrid solution, using a ground station in Nome and the segment of the fiber optic network that is still operational to increase the network capacity in the affected areas.
According to the announcement, this process is expected to take two weeks.
Until then customers are reliant on providers GCI and Fastwyre who have restored some of their services via satellite and TERRA backups.
Last Thursday and Friday GCI landline customers in Nome experienced an phone outage due to an “equipment malfunction,” according to GCI Director of Corporate Communications Megan Webb. That issue has been fully resolved, but customers may still experience slower speeds.
Fastwyre has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Their website states “Fastwyre has restored cellular service and is working establish [sic] temporary internet connectivity. Given capacity constraints, Internet service will be available at reduced bandwidth until Quintillion fully restores its service.”
Both Fastwyre and GCI state they will credit customers for the service impact during the outage.
McHale said in a press release that the company is working on plans for redundancy and advancing a terrestrial route from Utqiagvik to Deadhorse. But that will take federal dollars to achieve. “This past week we conducted several productive meetings with FEMA, BLM, FCC, the Department of Defense, and our congressional delegation,” McHale said. “During these sessions, Quintillion leadership strongly advocated for expediency to advance the prospect of building the terrestrial route this spring. Although Quintillion’s meetings in DC were productive, the future of the project is still in the hands of FEMA and other federal agencies.
“Without definitive action from FEMA, the project cannot proceed until the grant is formally awarded and can be drawn against to fund construction.”
Quintillion is also advancing plans for a subsea cable repair during the open water season. This work includes identifying the specialized tooling needed for the repair, as well as exploring enhanced burial techniques and routing options to better protect the fiber optic cable and network in the Arctic environment.