A representative from GCI says the company has successfully restored internet and cellular service in Sitka. The announcement came on Saturday morning (9-14-24), one day after repairs were made to the broken subsea fiber optic cable that took Sitka offline in late August.
In an email Friday (9-13-24) GCI spokesperson Josh Edge told KCAW that the British flagged repair ship, the Cable Innovator, successfully completed splicing work on the damaged cable Friday morning.
GCI was using a backup satellite system to provide basic internet and texting for most of the 16 days Sitka was offline. The company’s statement on Friday (9-13-24) warned that the process of shifting Sitka’s internet back to fiber optic could take several days. But 24 hours later they announced that the service had been fully restored.
Sitka was offline since the cable between Sitka and Angoon broke on August 29. Repairs last week were delayed slightly on Wednesday (9-11-24) due to weather. The last time a fiber optic cable broke in 2016, Sitka was offline for 12 days.
