GCI Customers In Sitka, Alaska to Lose Service for Days Amid Fiber Maintenance

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2025 – Thousands of GCI customers in Sitka, Alaska, will lose most internet services starting Sunday because the company may need repair to its undersea fiber network, according to a statement on its website.

The company said it will provide alternate, third-party connectivity for low-bandwidth services via satellite and radio wave during the 8-day maintenance period. 

“Home internet service will be available in a very limited capacity and will only support very low bandwidth activities like email. Basic mobile voice and text are expected to remain intact. Landline services will be available but delays in audio may be experienced,” the company said.

Sitka (pop. 9,000) sees about 600,000 cruise ship tourists a year. Located on  Baranof Island on the Alaska panhandle, Sitka can be reached only by sea and air.

Josh Edge, a spokesperson for GCI, told Broadband Breakfast in an email that the company’s technical team detected what looked like damage to a strip of undersea cable. However, he added that the company won’t have more information until the repair team arrives Sunday.

Sitka residents lost internet services for 16 days last September when a separate section of GCI subsea cable was damaged. The company said the maintenance scheduled to start Sunday is unrelated to that incident.

It is also separate from an Alaska Communications fiber break that briefly left residents of Juneau and Southeast Alaska without access over the weekend.

The planned maintenance was originally set to begin Friday, but was delayed due to weather conditions.