GCI

GCI had expected repairs to be finished on June 12, but weather conditions pushed back the work.

A repair vessel, the Cable Innovator, arrived near Chignik Bay on June 7, and crews started pulling the damaged cable up from the ocean floor, according to Josh Edge, GCI’s communications manager.

Repairs on GCI’s damaged fiber cable are expected to be completed within the next two weeks.

GCI lines went down across the Aleutian Chain sometime Wednesday morning, impacting internet and wireless services in several communities.

Alaska-based telecommunications company GCI announced plans Wednesday to acquire Quintillion in a $310 million deal. If state and federal regulators approve the deal, the companies say they’ll be able to merge their network infrastructure, making internet service across huge swaths of the state more reliable.

Unalaska’s cell and internet service has been fully restored, after GCI’s fiber cable was damaged during a late December storm.

Crews have started repairs on GCI’s subsea fiber cable in Unalaska. Megan Webb, director of corporate communications for the internet and cell phone provider, said in an email Wednesday morning that crews had retrieved both ends of the cable from the seafloor and are prepping them for splicing.

GCI customers in Unalaska still don’t have cell phone service or internet, after a section of the telecommunication company’s underwater fiber cable was damaged over the weekend.

Chignik Bay, a fishing community on the Alaska Peninsula, now has access to high-speed internet through a fiber optic project stretching across the Aleutian Chain.

Akutan, a town along the Aleutian Chain with around 100 year-round residents, is now connected to 5G wireless service as part of the GCI Aleutians Fiber Project.