AP&T wraps up the installation of SEALink South submarine cable and landing sites
Alaska Power & Telephone Company (AP&T) has completed the “SEALink South” submarine fiber cable project, the latest segment in its growing southeast Alaska broadband network.
What’s compelling here is the company completed the installation one year ahead of schedule.
SEALink South includes a submarine cable system interconnecting Ketchikan with Hollis and Coffman Cove communities, beachfront cable landing sites, various terrestrial facilities, and associated transport equipment.
The new project expands connectivity in Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago region, enhancing resilience through diverse routing options and a fiber “ring" around Prince of Wales Island.
SEALink South is funded via a $29.3 million USDA ReConnect grant, plus additional matching funds supplied by AP&T. Funds are also being used to construct fiber to the home in communities across Prince of Wales Island. Other buildouts are scheduled to occur in the communities of Klawock (2024-2025), Hollis (2025), and Craig (2026).
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski praised the completion of SEALink as a win for communities with few if any, broadband connectivity options.
“After hearing from Alaskans, strengthening rural infrastructure and broadband access was a priority of mine when crafting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” she said in a prepared statement. “The SEALink South project will help Alaskans in Prince of Wales have better access to telehealth services, education opportunities, connection with family and friends, and much more.”
Multi-purpose network
As a multi-purpose network, SEALink is available as a regional resource to assist carriers with transport and routing diversity requirements.
This includes Indigenous stakeholders working to develop tribal broadband solutions that have actively supported SEALink throughout its development.
Richard (Chalyee Éesh) Peterson, President of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, said this project “will greatly enhance the quality of life for residents and businesses in the region.”
Driving rural broadband expansion
SeaLink South is only one of three key projects AP&T has developed to enhance broadband expansion in the regions it serves.
Other notable projects include the SEALink and Lynn Canal Fiber (LCF).
In 2020, AP&T obtained a $21.5 million USDA grant to help develop the SEALink project, which interconnected Prince of Wales Island to Petersburg, Juneau, and the LCF project. The SEALink submarine cable was installed in 2022, two years ahead of schedule.
The project also involved constructing new beach landing sites and terrestrial transport fiber crossing land owned by the US Forest Service.
In 2016, AP&T completed the Lynn Canal Fiber (LCF) submarine cable project to increase speeds and capacity at the northern end of its network. LCF connects to the SAMN network and provides fiber optic-based transport between Skagway, Haines, and Juneau communities. The project involved developing a new beachfront cable landing site in Juneau.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.