Rural Alaska

Broadband construction starts in Southwest Alaska

A telecommunications project to extend terrestrial broadband service for the first time to Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is taking another step forward with the start of construction of microwave towers in or near five communities.

GCI officials said May 23 that barges arriving in Dillingham last week brought this equipment, plus more for the fiber optics segments between Williamsport and Pile Bay, an overland route.

Flexi-barges built at Dillingham after arrival of the larger barges headed up the Nushagak River this past week, heading for New Stuyahok and Koliganek, said GCI's director of Rural Broadband Development, Krag Johnsen. Some of the rest of the supplies were being delivered to Manokotak, Togiak and Platnium, with helicopters to lift materials to the four mountain top sites, Johnsen said.

The mountain top repeaters and microwave towers in Koliganek, New Stuyahok, Elwok, Levelock and Naknek -- 13 in all -- are to be completed by August or September, he said.

The GCI broadband project is called TERRA-SW, which is an acronym for "Terrestrial for Every Region of Rural Alaska." It is a hybrid fiber optic and microwave network, which removes the limitations of satellite service and provides symmetrical broadband service. Upon completion, TERRA-SW will make broadband available for the first time to over 9,000 households and nearly 750 businesses in the 65 Southwest Alaska communities.

The $88 million stimulus project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities service in the firm of a $44 million grant and a $44 million loan.

The project is led by United Utilities, Inc., a subsidiary of GCI. UUI's fiber optic contractor, Ledcor, Inc., completed the remote wintertime project on schedule. Pre-survey work was done by McClintock Land Associates, an Alaska Native owned firm in Eagle River.

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Martin Cary, vice president and general manager of GCI, said that with the start of summer work, area resident will see not only the physical construction of towers, but "feel the economic benefits through the employment of our numerous project partners."

Construction of the microwave towers and fiber segments will employ several hundred Alaskans through many companies, including Marsh Creek, Meridian Management, Peak Oilfield Service and Southwest Alaska Contractors.

Marsh Creek, an Anchorage-based firm, is the prime contractor responsible for construction of 11 TERRA-SW microwave sites. The firm offers civil construction, energy systems, environmental construction and telecommunications services.

Meridian Management, an employee-owned Alaska firm, is providing construction management services for the TERRA-SW project.

Peak Oilfield Services is the prime contractor responsible for construction of the TERRA-SW fiber optics sergments between Williamsport and Pile Bay and Iliamna and Fish Village.

Southwest Alaska Contractors, a private firm based in Naknek, is a subcontractor responsible for construction of new TERRA-SW microwave communication sites in five southwest Alaska communities, providing custom engineered industrial cranes and regional construction management.

This story is posted with permission from Alaska Newspapers Inc., which publishes six weekly community newspapers, a statewide shopper, a statewide magazine and slate of special publications that supplement its products year-round.

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