Catalina Island Getting Closer to Fiber Internet Service
The project will provide the island's 3,500 residents with high-speed internet.
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2026 — AVX Networks has advanced the Catalina Island high-speed internet project into its marine survey phase.
The project, scheduled to finish in 2028, will connect southern California's Catalina Island to the mainland through a 25-mile subsea fiber-optic cable system between Huntington Beach on the mainland and the island’s city of Avalon. The island, with approximately 3,500 residents, is accessible only by air and sea.
The project is expected to serve more than 1,185 currently unserved locations, not including LEO satellite services like Starlink. The project is funded by a $37.5 million grant from the California Public Utilities Commission.
“Catalina has waited too long for the connectivity mainland California takes for granted, and delivering it the right way means respecting the marine environment we’re working in,” said Lance Ware, co-founder and CEO of AVX Networks.
As part of the survey, the project team is collecting sonar imagery, magnetometer readings, and other data, allowing the cable to be buried beneath the sea floor without damaging shipwrecks or marine habitat.
“AVX Networks’ parent company, DEC LLC, sees developing broadband infrastructure for Catalina Island as a strategic proof point for its up-and-coming infrastructure platform, Ark Genesis,” according to a February post by Submarine Telecoms Forum.
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