Infrastructure

GCI’s wireless and internet services came back online late Sunday afternoon after an outage that lasted several hours for many customers across the state.

An Alaska Air spokesperson said via email that the airline can’t safely fly its planes without de-icing equipment. A technician is working on repairs today, and the jet also made it to Dillingham.

The moment many Unalaskans have been waiting years for is just around the corner: fast and affordable high speed internet has made its way to the island and is about to get booted up. GCI has been working since the spring of 2020 to bring fiber optic broadband to the region through its Aleutians Fiber project. And now, two and a half years later, the initial cable tests are finished and things are about to “get lit,” according to the telecommunications company.

Nushagak Cooperative said Friday afternoon that the disruption in phone and GCI data service started when one of the co-op's fiber paths failed, and GCI's traffic wasn't able to switch to a backup line.

Only two passenger flights from Anchorage made it to Dillingham within the last week — one on Saturday and one on Monday. Another flight is expected Tuesday afternoon.

High winds at the Muklung Mountain tower blew an antenna out of alignment on Wednesday. That wind continued through the next two days, preventing technicians from finishing repairs until Saturday.

The airline said no one was injured, and no equipment was damaged when an unexpected gust of wind pushed the aircraft on the Dillingham runway as it was preparing to taxi from the terminal.