Alaska Communications announces $20 million to bring 4G to the Last Frontier

Whether Alaska Communications is posturing for a buyout by Verizon or is truly building for a long-term presence in the state, the Anchorage-based company has announced plans that will let Alaskans enjoy the forefront of wireless technology. According to Fierce Wireless, a wireless industry news monitoring service, the company, which is the largest wireless provider of wireless service in the Last Frontier, said through a spokesman Wednesday that it will "deploy LTE [more commonly known as 4G] in a phased manner throughout its footprint." The details of what exactly that means will be revealed in the coming months, but the company plans to spend $20 million in LTE deployment costs, in addition to the $12 million it will cost to build the infrastructure necessary for the improvements.