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Alaska Power & Telephone Receives Environmental Approvals for SEALink Fiber Optic Project and Executes Contracts for 2022 Construction
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Alaska Power & Telephone Company (APTL) announced significant progress on its SEALink fiber optic project, now set to complete two years ahead of schedule. The project will install a 214-mile submarine cable connecting Prince of Wales Island to Juneau, funded by a $24.5m USDA grant and $7m from APTW. Construction is expected to begin soon, enhancing broadband access for the underserved communities of Kasaan and Coffman Cove with improved connectivity supporting remote work and education.
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SEALink project completion is two years ahead of schedule.
Project funded by $24.5m USDA grant and $7m from APTW.
Enhanced connectivity will support remote work, telehealth, and education.
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Project is Proceeding 2 Years Ahead of Schedule
JUNEAU, Alaska--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Alaska Power & Telephone Company (AP&T) is pleased to share the achievement of key milestones for the SEALink fiber optic project undertaken by its subsidiary AP&T Wireless (APTW).
The SEALink Fiber Optic project will provide connectivity between Prince of Wales Island and Juneau. (Graphic: Business Wire)
In December of 2021, US Department of Agriculture Rural Utility Services (RUS) provided the SEALink project with environmental clearance, authorizing construction. Shortly after RUS environmental approvals, APTW executed a contract with Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke, a German subsidiary of the submarine cable manufacturer Prysmian Group, for supply and installation of the submarine fiber optic cable in 2022 – two years ahead of the project’s original schedule.
The SEALink project will create a 214-mile submarine fiber optic cable from Prince of Wales Island to Juneau, with an overland crossing on Mitkof Island through the community of Petersburg. The project also involves terrestrial network build-outs in the communities of Coffman Cove and Kasaan, which currently lack broadband service. The project is funded by a $24.5m grant from USDA Rural Utility Services, and over $7m in matching funds from APTW.
Meanwhile, APTW has been making arrangements to begin constructing SEALink’s terrestrial project features in 2022. It anticipates boring on Mitkof Island will begin in the coming weeks, followed by development of Mitkof-based aerial transport fiber. After that, AP&T will begin fiber-to-the home build-outs in the communities of Kasaan and Coffman Cove. Improved residential service should begin to become available in 2023.
Alaska Power & Telephone President and CEO Mike Garrett remarked, “We are thrilled to be in the position to bring the benefits of the SEALink project to rural Alaskans two years earlier than originally planned. Timely action by state and federal permitting authorities, and robust support from regional stakeholders combined with the efforts of our engineering and permitting team to make this possible. While the benefit stream may be two years ahead, it is not a moment too soon for rural southeast Alaskans. Communities like Coffman Cove and Kasaan lack the connectivity they need to participate in remote working, telehealth, and educational opportunities, which have become fundamental to our society. SEALink solves that problem, and opens up additional opportunities to enhance connectivity throughout southeast Alaska.”
In the months that come, AP&T will be working with tribes, rural communities, and other service providers to develop concepts that further expand the usefulness of the SEALink network to stakeholders across the region.
Alaska Power & Telephone Company (OTC: APTL) is an investor-owned utility providing diverse utility services in over 40 communities in rural Alaska. Additional information on AP&T can be found at: www.aptalaska.com
