Sitka, Alaska, Back Online After Subsea Fiber Cable Repair

March 20, 2025 - Telecommunications were restored in Sitka, Alaska after repairs were completed ahead of schedule.

General Communication, Inc., the largest telecommunications provider in Alaska, announced that its emergency maintenance on the undersea fiberoptic cable to Sitka was successfully completed earlier this week, restoring all internet and communication services. 

The four-day outage, which began Thursday morning, was resolved ahead of schedule—well before the nine-day window GCI initially anticipated.

“Crews completed emergency maintenance work at approximately 6 a.m. this morning (Monday) on GCI’s underwater fiber serving Sitka. All services have been moved back onto the fiber and restored to normal levels,” GCI said in a statement. 

Josh Edge, GCI’s corporate communications manager, explained that the timeline remained uncertain until the fiber was inspected. 

Weather delays affected the arrival of the repair ship Cable Innovator, which reached the site, located about 10 miles from Angoon, late Thursday.

Crews worked throughout the weekend to complete the repairs, which involved reinforcing a small section of damaged fiber.

Though the damage hadn’t disrupted internet service at the time it was detected, GCI opted to address it preemptively to avoid another lengthy outage like the one in August and September 2024, which lasted 17 days. 

During the disruption, GCI switched over to a backup system that provided basic call and text service and customers had limited access to services through satellite and microwave technologies. As compensation, GCI will credit affected customers with a full month of service fees for impacted services, including cell phone, internet, and FastPhone.