As the broadband fate of rural communities nationwide remains in limbo in the wake of the apparent compromise concerning President Biden’s $65 billion broadband initiative, one rural telecom company -- GCI -- said it plans to connect 17 remote areas of Alaska this year using funds from the five-year old $1.5 billion Alaska Plan to bring high-speed internet to the frontier.  

Earlier this week, President Biden announced he had reached a compromise with Senate Republicans concerning his overall infrastructure plan, which would pump nearly $600 billion of federal funds to build bridges, roads, and fund environmental remediation and other projects, including earmarking $65 billion to bring broadband service to rural communities. Initially the broadband component was to include  increasing funding for municipal broadband projects, but where the money will go is still somewhat up in the air. Republicans have taken a harsher stance on muni broadband -- some have tried to eliminate it all together  -- and some reports have said it is unlikely that they would have agreed to give municipalities priority over private providers.   

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In the meantime, GCI  said 11 communities -- Kodiak, Nome, Valdez, Kotzebue, Tok, Dillingham, Manokotak, Aleknagik, Clark’s Point, Becker Ridge, and Fritz Creek -- will receive faster wireless service via LTE upgrades this year. Another six communities -- Nikolai, Lime Village, Rampart, Central, Lake Minchumina, and Takotna -- will get terrestrial internet service for the first time. 

The news  comes weeks after GCI said it would deploy 2 Gigabit per second service to 77% of residents in the state in 2022 and that it is on track to provide 10 Gbps service in the next five years. . 

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The Federal  Communications Commission’s Alaska Plan was created in 2016 to allocate $1.5 billion over ten years to carriers to maintain, extend, and upgrade broadband service across certain areas of the state. GCI was one of 15 carriers and their eight wireless affiliates to sign on to the plan back in 2016. 

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According to GCI, the federal funding helps make rural investment and maintenance possible in extremely remote, costly and difficult-to-serve communities. GCI, along with other Alaska providers, receives a portion of Alaska Plan funding each year.

“As technology evolves, access to reliable connectivity is more crucial than ever, especially for those who live in remote communities,” GCI senior director of regulatory affairs Juliana Wayman said in a press release. “Through GCI’s Alaska Plan projects, more Alaskans can stay connected in their homes and on-the-go with wireless devices. Increased connectivity also expands entertainment options and enables Alaskans to grow small business opportunities, access online government services, and keep in touch with friends and family.”

So far, GCI said the plan has helped 79,000 rural Alaskans in 105 communities gain access to faster data speeds and improved broadband service. 

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“While GCI is a key provider of wireless and wireline services throughout rural Alaska, we can’t do it alone,” Wayman said in the press release. “With the leadership of the Alaska Telecom Association, support from Alaska’s federal delegation and the dedication of 16 other providers across the state, keeping Alaskans connected is a group effort requiring innovative solutions to serve a state unlike any other. Through that collaboration, it’s our goal to be good stewards of Alaska Plan funding and investment so we are able to expand broadband access and better connect rural Alaska and close the digital divide.”

GCI, the largest telecom company in Alaska, said Tuesday that it will deliver 2 Gigabit per second internet access to 77% of residents of that state in 2022, and is on track to provide 10 Gbps speeds in the next five years. 

With that commitment, GCI said it would be the first in Alaska and one of the first in the country to make 2 Gbps speeds widely available to its customers. The company began making 1 Gbps speeds available to its customers in 2015, when it launched 1GIG Red service in Anchorage. Today, 77% of Alaskans live within GCI’s 1 Gbps footprint.

“When I started GCI more than 40 years ago, Alaska lagged far behind the rest of the nation in basic connectivity,” GCI CEO Ron Duncan said in a press release. “Today I’m pleased to announce that when upgrades are complete in 2022, Alaska will lead the nation in 2 gig speeds. And it will be our turn, once again, to wait for the rest of the country to catch up.” 

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GCI said communities that currently have access to its 1 Gbps service will be the first to receive the 2 Gbps service when it becomes available. Customers on GCI+ red plans will automatically be upgraded to 2 gig service, doubling their current speeds at no additional cost. 

Other Alaskan communities that will have access to 2 Gbps speeds when the service launches next year include: Anchorage, Eagle River, Girdwood, Fairbanks, Fort Greely, Homer, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, North Pole, Palmer, Petersburg, Seward, Soldotna, Sitka, Valdez, Wasilla and Wrangell. 

GCI also plans to launch 1 Gbps service later this year in Nome and Kotzebue, and as part of its ambitious AU-Aleutians Fiber Project, will deliver 1 Gbps speeds to the remote Western Alaska communities of Unalaska, King Cove, Akutan, Sand Point, Chignik Bay and Larsen Bay.

Also Read: Cable’s Last Frontier

GCI’s 2 gig speeds will be available in these communities in a future phase of the upgrade project.

“Nome, Kotzebue and communities in the Aleutians are among the most remote in the nation, but will soon have urban-level internet comparable to Anchorage, Chicago and Los Angeles,” Duncan said in the press release. “It’s another example of GCI’s commitment to closing the digital divide and turning the Last Frontier into the First Frontier for connectivity.” 

GCI also said that it is developing a business and technical plan to build fiber to Bethel, the largest city in the western part of the state, to provide 1 Gbps, 2 Gbps and eventually 10 Gbps speeds. 

“For decades, GCI has pioneered ground-breaking connectivity solutions for rural Alaska,” GCI President Greg Chapados said in the release. “TERRA, our hybrid fiber-microwave network, which brought terrestrial broadband service to Western Alaska for the first time; the AU-Aleutians Fiber Project, which should be substantially complete by the end of next year; and the launch of 1 gig in Kotzebue and Nome later this year illustrates our longstanding commitment to serving rural Alaskans. We are working to finalize a comprehensive plan for the next evolution of data communications in rural Alaska. Bringing fiber to Bethel is a top priority in that plan.”

The mayor of Anchorage resigned Oct. 13 after admitting he’d engaged in an “inappropriate” relationship with a news anchor, Maria Athens, in the city. Athens was an anchor at KTBY and KYUR Anchorage, a Fox-ABC pair. Ethan Berkowitz was the Anchorage mayor. 

Athens had teased an “exclusive” story on the mayor on social media, reported to the New York Times, that involved graphic photos of the mayor on an “underage girls’ website.” Berkowitz, who is married, responded that the story was “slanderous.” Athens then posted an image she said depicted the mayor’s bare buttocks, with a laughing emoji. 

Berkowitz later revealed that he and Athens had engaged in a “consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship.”

“It is with profound sadness and humility that I resign as mayor of the municipality of Anchorage,” Berkowitz said in a statement read to the Anchorage Assembly by his chief of staff. “My resignation results from unacceptable personal conduct that has compromised my ability to perform my duties with the focus and trust that is required.”

Before Athens teased her exclusive story, she left a voicemail for Berkowitz that the NY Times called a “furious rant” with anti-Semitic references, where she called the mayor a “pedophile.”

“I’m going to get an Emmy, so you either turn yourself in, kill yourself, or do what you need to do,” Athens said, adding that she would kill Berkowitz and his wife.

The Anchorage Police Department worked with the F.B.I. to investigate the allegations about the mayor and found no criminal conduct. 

Athens was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct late last week after an altercation with her manager at KTBY-KYUR. She no longer works for the stations. 

Coastal Television Broadcasting Company owns KTBY and manages KYUR. 

Competition series Forged in Fire: Knife or Death starts April 17 on History, seeing a bunch of bladesmiths carve their way through some daunting obstacle courses. The show is hosted by Bill Goldberg, who in another era was the mononymous wrestling titan Goldberg.

Goldberg admitted he’s not too much of a blade maven. “I don’t have an extensive background with knives,” he said. “But I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I am kind of a country boy.”

The show is “visually spectacular,” said Goldberg, as contestants tackle the obstacle courses, Knife Fight and Dead Run. Their hardware includes Bowie knives, medieval swords and traditional Japanese Katana, a samurai sword.

So were there, like, accidents? “Nothing life threatening,” Goldberg said. “Any time you wield a nine- to 37-inch blade, anything can happen.”

Goldberg’s past hosting jobs include Garage Mahal on DIY, which saw grubby garages transformed into stellar living spaces, and the road rally series Bullrun on Spike. He watches “as much car show stuff as possible.”

He also dabbles in a bit of wrestling content years after his career ended. Goldberg was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this month. “It does occupy a certain space, and will always be there,” he said.

But for today, Goldberg is fully focused on Forged in Fire. One needn’t be a knife expert to enjoy the series. “I think everyone can relate to someone on the show,” said Goldberg.

Last Outpost, starring backcountry builders and best buds Clint Greathouse and Todd Anderson, a couple of Alaska guys putting MacGyver to shame with their creative builds of monster trucks, all-terrain wheelchairs and other extreme machinery, premieres April 17 on Discovery.

The premiere sees Clint and Todd build a monster tow truck from an old military aircraft tug vehicle, a beast that can conquer any terrain Alaska throws in front of it. In another episode, they craft an off-road wheelchair, similarly capable of tackling tough terrain, for a paralyzed customer with a taste for the outdoors. Executive producer Joseph Boyle described it as a “tank track wheelchair,” made from, as all of Clint and Todd’s creations are, recycled parts.

“They gave this guy the freedom he has not had for 15 years,” Boyle added.

The show’s title refers to that last place in town you go to for that thing you really need, that no one else has. “Alaskans are notoriously self-reliant,” Boyle said. “But there are times you need something.”

The monster tow truck and souped-up wheelchair aren’t the only cool creations revealed in season one, said Boyle. “Every single build is completely unique,” he said, “and completely Clint and Todd.”