Alaskan cable operator GCI (NASDAQ:GNCMA) plans to expand high-speed terrestrial broadband service to the Northwest Arctic Borough and Norton Sound, delivering services to 10 new communities this year. GCI's Terrestrial for Every Rural Region in Alaska (TERRA) network delivers low latency network connections and high-speed Internet access. The speed increases, supported by Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) technology, are intended to improve the performance of online health, education and government services.
"GCI has brought high-speed Internet to some of the most remote locations on earth," said Greg Chapados, executive vice president and COO of GCI. "We've seen how much a community can benefit from the improved medical care, improved education and improved economic opportunities that accompany access to broadband. We're truly connecting Alaskans to the rest of the world. The projects are hard and the environment unforgiving, but we're an Alaska company, and we don't expect things to be easy."
By the end of 2016, Buckland, Kiana, Noorvik, Selawik, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, Stebbins and St. Michael will join the growing list of rural Alaska communities with access to TERRA. GCI's TERRA project launched in 2010 and currently delivers broadband services to 72 communities and services more than 43,000 residents.