Arctic Directory March 2016: ASRC makes an investment in Quintillion Holdings LLC

Arctic Slope Regional Corp. has made a significant investment in Quintillion Holdings LLC and now holds a minority interest in the Anchorage-based telecommunications company. Quintillion and its affiliates are currently involved in building terrestrial as well as subsea fiber optic networks to serve Alaska’s North Slope. “We consider high speed Broadband critical and necessary infrastructure in the Arctic. Without it, our region cannot live up to its potential,” said Rex A. Rock Sr., ASRC president and CEO. Those living in rural Alaska communities pay close to the highest Internet and bandwidth costs in the entire world. A recent study found that Barrow residents paid more than seven times the cost of those in San Francisco for satellite-based internet speed that is considerably slower. The main factor affecting the cost of service in remote Alaska is the expense of operating existing satellite and microwave communication systems. The operating cost for fiber-optic cable is much lower. Quintillion has begun construction of its Subsea Cable System, which will extend from Prudhoe Bay to Nome with landings in the communities of Barrow, Wainwright, Point Hope and Kotzebue. The system is planned to eventually link Europe and Asia with a fiber-optic broadband cable running along the floor of the Arctic Ocean. A land-based Alaska component of a sister project includes installation of a fiber-optic cable along the Dalton Highway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay.