With a new stretch of undersea cable complete, Alaska Power & Telephone is set to expand its fiber optic broadband internet service to more communities on Prince of Wales Island.
The utility announced Nov. 12 that it had finished a $39 million undersea fiber optic cable that connects Ketchikan with Hollis and Coffman Cove.
The new 101-mile-long SEALink South cable runs west of Ketchikan and splits into a Y near Kasaan Arm to reach the two communities. The project is intended to strengthen high-speed fiber optic internet access across Prince of Wales, according to a press release from AP&T.
Crews laid the undersea cables in late October. The work was finished and the cable put into service on Nov. 1.
SEALink South was funded in 2022 by a $29.3 million ReConnect grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with AP&T expecting to add in about $9.7 million in matching funds for the project.
Project funds also cover build-outs in communities and hookups for residences, AP&T stated. The utility’s crews are set to begin connecting fiber optic cables to homes in Klawock this year, and to continue in Hollis in 2025 and Craig in 2026.
Jason Custer, vice president of regulatory and government affairs for AP&T, said service will be more reliable now that a fiber optic cable connects the island communities to Ketchikan.
The company said its undersea cables now form a “fiber ring” around the island. The SEALink South cable connects via Coffman Cove to AP&T's existing 214-mile-long SEALink cable that runs north of the island.
AP&T completed the SEALink cable in 2022 with a $21.5 million ReConnect federal grant. The company contributed more than $7 million in matching funds for the project. Since laying the SEALink cable, the internet provider has rolled out fiber optic services in Coffman Cove and Kasaan, according to Custer.
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