Satellite web competitors OneWeb and SpaceX are within the running to reconnect Alaskans after ice damaged a sub-sea fiber-optic cable within the Arctic Ocean, as reported by quite a few local outlets. While repairs are expected to take an extra six to eight weeks, satellites could help locals weather the widespread outage.
Last week, residents in the agricultural towns of Utqiaġvik, Point Hope, Wainwright, Kotzebue, Nome, and other communities found themselves without web or cellular connectivity when the 1,200-mile fiber cable owned by the Alaska-based broadband company Quintillion suffered a break. Quintillion says the cable broke as “a results of an ice scouring event.”
“Our sub-sea system is currently out of service,” Quintillion states. “Our dedicated team of experts is actively engaged in diagnosing and resolving the problem. They’re working in coordination with our partners and undersea cable maintenance teams to revive the services on the earliest possible time.”
The outage has caused disruptions throughout the region, hampering 911 calls, closing businesses, and even impacting bank card transactions. While Quintillion says it’s working to get a repair vessel to the world, it could arrive as early as August, depending on weather and ice conditions. Within the meantime, Quintillion is seeking to satellite connectivity to carry residents over.
The corporate’s June twenty first update says it has ordered user terminals able to 500Mbps connections from OneWeb, a low Earth orbit satellite web company. Neither Quintillion nor OneWeb immediately responded to ’s request for more details on how the terminals will help reconnect service for locals. Starlink also says it’s “coordinating with the State of Alaska, various local governments & Native communities to assist provide connectivity where it’s needed most.”