Project Overview

  • TERRA-SW is funded with a $44 million grant from the USDA Rural Utilities Service and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and a $44 million loan to United Utilities Inc. (UUI).  UUI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska's largest telecommunications company, GCI.  
  • TERRA-SW is a historic investment that will provide the first ever high speed fiber optic and microwave connection to Southwest Alaska.
  • The project will extend terrestrial broadband services to 65 communities and 9000+ households in the Bristol Bay and Yukon Kuskokwim Delta regions.
  • The network will provide a direct, land-based connection to Anchorage, the global fiber optic backbone, and the Internet.
  • TERRA-SW will serve numerous public/nonprofit/private entities such as regional health corporations, school districts, and native organizations.

Southwest Alaska's Broadband Need

  • No village in the region has access to broadband service as defined by the Broadband Stimulus Act.
  • All communication links (including phone, television, and Internet) are currently delivered over high cost, high latency satellite connections.
  • The nearly 150 hospitals, clinics, and schools in the area are limited in the services they can provide by their lack of access to dependable high speed connectivity.
  • Service for residential, government, and business users is constrained by satellite and limits their ability to make full use of the Internet.
  • The region is unable to participate in the modern knowledge economy or access global information resources due to lack of affordable and sufficient Internet access.

The Solution: TERRA-SW

  • A hybrid fiber/microwave network connecting 65 villages throughout southwest Alaska to each other, to existing Alaskan fiber networks, and to the global Internet.
  • The TERRA-SW project will include:
    • 395 miles of submarine and land-based cable.
    • 13 new microwave towers (including 4 remote mountaintop repeaters).
    • Capacity upgrade to existing YK DeltaNet network.
  • High-speed backbone capable of supporting multiple voice, data, and Internet providers.
  • GCI will offer wireless residential broadband Internet access in each
    TERRA-SW community.

Funding

  • Total project cost: $88M.
  • USDA Rural Utilities Service: $44M.
  • GCI/ UUI investment: $44M plus long-term commitment to operate and maintain the network.