A GCI fiber optic cable was cut in midtown Anchorage Thursday morning causing phone, cable, and internet outages across the state. The company says they are working as quickly as possible to fix it, but it’s more complicated than it seems.
The cable contains over 500 strands of glass. Each is responsible for carrying different information. One transports television channels to rural Alaska. Another carries internet. GCI spokesperson David Morris says that’s why outages are so inconsistent.
“Your wireless phone may work in one part of town and not work in another part of town. Internet could be effected the same way. Some services work and some services don’t, and that’s why it’s really hard to pinpoint both the number of effected customers and a neat, tidy package of where services are effected.”
To fix the problem, the company is reconnecting two ends of the severed cable with an aerial cable that runs over Tudor Road near C Street. Morris says they have multiple crews working on the project. It will take over 1,000 individual splices, and they have to make sure all of the fibers connect properly on each end. They are prioritizing the strands that get the most traffic to try to restore busier services sooner, he says. Fixing the entire cable could take until Friday. He says they are still investigating the cause.
According to their Facebook page, they will let people know when the problem is fixed through social media.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her at ahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Anne here.
