Alaska internet additional info update

Alaskan telecommunications company has started construction on a fibre line that will link the state with the rest of the mainland U.S., with Northwestel to build and own of a new portion of line that will run through the Yukon.

MTA Fiber Holdings, a subsidiary of Matanuska Telephone Association, announced in a press release May 1 that it has started construction on what’s to be “the first and only all-terrestrial fiber network connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States and beyond.”

Dubbed the Alaska Canada Overland Network, or AlCan ONE for short, the press release says the project “will lower transport expenses, provide a secure and reliable route to the contiguous U.S. and provide Alaska with a stable internet transport connection.” It also says that MTA has “secured partnerships with Canadian carriers” in order to extend its existing network from North Pole, Alaska, through Canada and “on to any major hub” in the U.S.

At the moment MTA pays other carriers to use their undersea fibre lines. MTA Fiber’s website describes two of those lines as “quickly approaching the end of their useful life.”

http://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2019/05/02/fibre-optic-internet-alaska-cable-mta-connection/

https://www.yukon-news.com/news/alaskan-telecom-to-build-terrestrial-fibre-line-through-yukon-linking-state-to-the-lower-48/