Last segment of cable installed for internet in remote Alaska communities

A communications company announced Tuesday that the final piece of physical cable running along the ocean floor has been installed in preparation of providing internet connectivity to several remote Alaska communities by the end of the year.

In a news release, Quintillion said the the subsea cable system is on schedule to deliver internet to the arctic this December. The communities poised to be brought online with the fiber optic network will include Utqiaġvik, Wainwright, Point Hope, and Kotzebue, the company said.

This, after previous efforts by the company brought a "terrestrial fiber" through Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks, a move that

was applauded earlier this year by politicians, entrepreneurs and native corporation leaders.

The subsea cable will then utilize what the company calls a "subsea trunk line" from Prudhoe Bay to connect with Nome, and then branch out to the other more remote communities.

George Tronsrue, Quintillion’s interim CEO, said in the statement that their goal is to "enhance education, medicine and other essential services" with the proliferation of online capacity to Alaska markets.

A portion of the system has been operating in "test mode" since November during spring ice break season. The company said that so far the installation has operated "perfectly" ahead of the commercial launch in December.