Alaska Power & Telephone plans to offer new internet packages to Haines in early 2017 because of increased speeds and capacity with the underwater fiber-optic cable in Lynn Canal.
The 86-mile cable connects Haines, Skagway and Juneau.
Right now, AP&T’s lowest level broadband internet package can upload and download 768 kilobits per second. The second-lowest level of current service is one megabit per second for upload and download speed.
The new lowest service level will likely be five megabits per second, said Mark McCready, AP&T director of marketing.
Businesses or organizations that may require a custom package will also be accommodated. “We could offer them whatever they needed as a way of upload or download,” McCready said. “We’ve got such a large capacity now going forward that for the foreseeable future…It’s at least a 20-year deal for us, and probably more.”
McCready said the cable is “hooked up” at its ends in Juneau, Haines and Skagway. “I know that we’re already seeing signal…tied into existing equipment,” McCready said, but AP&T is still testing the fibers.
The challenge for AP&T is that local infrastructure is not up to date with fiber-optic technology, McCready said. The company would like copper wiring to be changed to fiber-optic in Haines and Skagway. “We have a lot of homes that wiring creates limitations,” McCready said. “We’ve still got quite a bit of work to do.”
But as people continue to consume more bandwidth, technology will become more efficient to allow more bandwidth through, he said.
AP&T is working out contracts with large data carriers like AT&T and others to transfer information when it is “handed off to the greater world” past Juneau.
Pricing on the new local plans has not been discussed. But McCready said the most expansive packages will probably see a reduction in price.
Although AP&T will have to earn back the $11 million private investment to complete the fiber-optic cable project, the longevity of the technology allows AP&T to earn back that investment gradually and offer competitive rates, McCready said.
AP&T hosted a commissioning event in Skagway Friday to celebrate the completion of the project. The Chilkat Dancers from Haines and Klukwan performed. Mayor Jan Hill represented Haines. Hill mentioned the fiber-optic cable at Tuesday’s assembly meeting: “You can download things that used to take half a day.”
Other officials represented Skagway, Juneau, Klukwan, Whitehorse, Carcross and First Nations at the commissioning.