Alaska’s GCI Acquiring Quintillion
Grain Management has owned Quintillion since February 2024.
WASHINGTON, April 23, 2026 – Alaskan cable operator GCI Liberty is purchasing Quintillion, a subsea fiber provider in the state, at a valuation of $310 million.
Once the deal is closed, GCI will provide a $160 million unsecured loan to Quintillion and will reimburse up to $50 million in expenses related to the construction of a largely subsea fiber line stretching 1,200 miles from Nome to Homer, Ak.
The companies said in a release Wednesday that Quintillion holds more than 1,800 miles in existing subsea and terrestrial fiber and is planning on about 1,500 more. GCI has about 151,000 broadband subscribers in Alaska and about 200,000 wireless lines.
“Quintillion set out to build resilient, Arctic‑ready fiber infrastructure in some of the most challenging operating environments in the world, and I’m incredibly proud of the network and business our team has built,” Mac McHale, president of Quintillion, said in a statement. “GCI brings Alaska expertise, long-term commitment, and the operational scale needed to carry this network forward. We’re confident these assets will be in good hands.”
McHale will stay on as president through closing, a Quintillion spokesperson said in an email. After that, he “will support a smooth, orderly transition.”
Telecom investment firm Grain Management has owned Quintillion since February 2024. In that time the Alaska infrastructure company suffered multiple fiber cuts, including one that caused prolonged outages in 2025. A January fiber break wasn’t resolved until September because of tough Arctic weather conditions.
GCI was spun off from John Malone’s Liberty Broadband last year, as part of Charter’s acquisition of Liberty. Malone still controls GCI via ownership of a majority of its stock. As part of the spin off, Malone’s voting power was temporarily limited, but the Federal Communications Commission cleared Malone to assume control Wednesday.
Grant projects
GCI said it would complete any of Quintillion’s existing grant projects in progress at the time of closing.
Both companies won funding through Alaska’s $1 billion slice of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Quintillon’s award from the state took a big hit before the Trump administration was willing to sign off, falling to $48 million from $127 million to connect 1,028 locations, just 82 fewer than under the larger tentative award. The company is looking to lay fiber to St. Lawrence Island (pop. 1,300) in the Bering Sea, more than 120 miles from the Alaskan mainland, and a small village with no road access.
GCI’s award fell to $120 million from about $140 million. That’s what the company’s management team said they expected on the company’s earnings call on Feb.11.
GCI is approved to build fiber to more than 3,200 locations, down slightly from 3,300 in its tentative award.
Alaska has been cleared by BEAD’s grants manager but has yet to sign its final contract with the Commerce Department to access the funds, according to the agency. After that the state will have to craft and sign grant agreements with its participating ISPs.
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