Fiber. We all know it’s the best and the fastest internet technology around — which is why GCI invested in it to serve as the backbone of Alaska’s most advanced network. What is lesser known is that the forward-thinking design of GCI’s fiber-first structure has more recently enabled us to evolve our network beyond the core benefits of fiber to become Fiber+. These network advancements are making GCI a front-runner in the gig race; are empowering efforts to close the digital divide in Alaska; and have paved the way for GCI to be the first carrier to bring gig speeds to Alaska — currently 2 gig, and on the road to deliver 10 gig in the next several years. These unbelievable speeds and associated capacity are coming to us before their time, on a network built for the future.
The benefits of fiber
Today, fiber coax networks are the best in class for speed, reliability, and increased bandwidth capabilities. Their connections are so speedy that they deliver data in gigabits per second, where one gigabit is equivalent to 1,000 megabits (1 Gbps = 1,000 Mbps)! This means customers enjoy extremely fast downloads and can stream audio and video with little to no interruption. Fiber networks are also less susceptible to outages when compared to older technologies, have expanded capacity to take on increased traffic, and can support multiple users and devices on the same network.
GCI’s network is comprised of nearly 8,500 miles of fiber-optic cabling, including roughly 6,000 miles of subsea fiber. This top-notch technology is the powerful foundation on which we built Alaska’s fastest internet. Not only is our network reinforced with a variety of backups in place to increase reliability, but we are continually pushing fiber connections closer to every doorstep with our focus set on minimizing the digital divide in Alaska. In places where laying fiber has not yet been an option, we bridge the gap using a blended network of supplemental technologies, which enables us to keep more Alaskans connected to the world. We call the entirety of this evolutionary network GCI Fiber+, and it’s the network of the future — delivered today.
Beyond fiber to Fiber+
While fiber is the current gold standard, it’s not without its vulnerabilities. With this understanding, Alaska’s most advanced network was designed to make the best even better with additional network capabilities integrated to fortify performance and push the boundaries of speed potential. We took our network beyond fiber to Fiber+, which speaks to the one-of-a-kind supplemental functionality and unmatched expert design that has taken more than 40 years to achieve. With its scalable infrastructure, Fiber+ allows us to provide customers with the best and newest internet technology as it becomes available, meaning users experience the absolute fastest, most reliable internet today and into the future.
Dual SIM, Dual Life: The Value of Two Networks
Our network speed evolutions have been an excellent demonstration of the power of Fiber+. When the technology required to deploy 2 gig service became a reality, Fiber+ was primed for the upgrade and we quickly doubled data speeds for our customers. As a result, Alaska is the nation’s leader in 2 gig internet accessibility, with more than 80% of Alaskans having access to 2 gig internet speeds well before much of the contiguous United States. The scalability of our Fiber+ network is the key ingredient that is enabling our growth toward 10 gig service.
Another differentiator of our Fiber+ network is that it was strategically built with redundancies, complementary delivery methods, and world-class technology, giving customers not only fiber connections but access to a complete suite of distinctive engineering solutions maintained and kept at the ready. These pieces come together to form the most elite network in Alaska — and in most of the world.
Customers on GCI’s network get the fastest connections because our expert technicians engineer the best solutions for any scenario and are prepared to deploy a sophisticated blend of technologies, especially in situations where delivering fiber all the way to the premises is not an immediately feasible solution. In these cases, we push fiber as close as we can, then bridge the final gap with the complementary technology necessary to create the best experience for that customer. In this way, Fiber+ brings best of breed technologies to deliver premium connectivity to places that no other provider will go.
Additional network capabilities
Disaster preparedness is one of the major strengths of GCI’s Fiber+ network. It stands guarded against threats through high-availability design and engineering, a variety of backup transport methods, and boots-on-the-ground support technicians who are ready to repair any physical damage sustained.
• Ringed structure — We constructed our core network in a ringed configuration to create redundancy, which helps ensure that services remain largely unaffected if a section of fiber sustains damage; if there is a break in the fiber, internet traffic is diverted the other direction, maintaining uninterrupted fiber service.
• On-call repair ship — We brace our network against fiber damage by investing annually to retain a dedicated cable repair ship that is on call 24/7/365 to ensure any damaged subsea fiber is repaired as quickly as possible.
• Backup technologies — Another recent investment in network resiliency has been to expand our geosynchronous satellite capacity through a 10-year, $150 million partnership with Intelsat, a global leader in satellite service. These additional satellites can act as a backup to provide services when other delivery technologies experience outages.
Future-forward
Not all networks are created equal. The ongoing time, investments, and projects committed to expanding GCI’s fiber footprint and actively closing the digital divide in Alaska are proof of that. And while our extensive investment and expertise in fiber cabling is part of what makes our network so special, it’s our unique engineering solutions that really make it shine. As technology and time advance, internet speed and capacity needs follow suit. Is your ISP positioned to keep up with the speed needs of tomorrow?
GCI continues to be one of the nation’s leaders in advanced internet service delivery, made possible by an innovative network designed to accommodate the increasing demands placed on it. GCI Fiber+ capabilities on the horizon include synchronously blazing-fast upload and download speeds, even more network capacity, and nearly instantaneous connections. So, when you’re in the market for an ISP, remember that there’s a world of possibilities beyond fiber, and it’s called Fiber+.