INTERNET

Most of the buildings in Adak sit empty. But more than 300 of them are wired for internet, a cost U.S. phone customers are paying. A new investigation from the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica found the cost comes to more than $340,000 a year for a service no one on the island was using.

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.

The Native Village of Atka, which is the tribal government for Atka, will receive $4.9 million under Alaska’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, known as BEAD.

Akutan, located in the middle of the Aleutian chain, is slated to receive a fiber-optic internet connection this summer through the GCI Aleutians Fiber Project.

A viral TikTok video posted on Jan. 20 brought Unalaska eagles to screens across the world. It was produced by Eryn Whittern, who moved to Unalaska in April of last year.

On Nov. 8, crews for the telecommunications company began working on the cable landing station that will connect Akutan to high-speed internet.

Alaska-based internet provider GCI is entering the next phase of their subsea fiber optic cable project.

OptimERA has paired with a SpaceX subsidiary for faster internet speeds.

The Unalaska City Council will weigh the city’s internet service provider options at its meeting Tuesday night, after unanimously deciding to postpone the discussion earlier this month.

The Unalaska City School District has signed a new internet contract.