PETERSBURG-AK GCI contractors are slated to begin work this month on the overland infrastructure Petersburg needs to link-up with a new fiber-optic communications cable. A ship will begin laying GCI’s cable this summer along 750 miles of seabed between Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Angoon and Juneau. The 30-million dollar link will be the second cable into Juneau but the first such connection of its kind for Petersburg and the other communities. The smaller towns currently rely on mountaintop microwave repeater sites for data transmission. According to the company, the cable will allow for more reliable and substantially faster internet speeds as well as digital television and phone service. As part of the project in Petersburg, GCI has moved its local headquarters up to the Hammer and Wikan center. Matt Lichtenstein asked local GCI technician Perry Allen and for an update on the fiber-optic project.
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