Federal Stimulus Fund and Internet Connection in Remote Rural Alaska   by Karen

in Real Estate / Foreclosures    (submitted 2012-01-16)

Alaskans living in remote rural areas will soon be able to experience Internet (high-speed) because of a project involving $88 million; partly the money is coming from the stimulus grant of Washington. The new network will connect some of the most remote areas with the cities of Alaska as well as other parts of the globe, informed a telecommunication firm.

For a long time southwest Alaska had depended for telecommunications on satellites. It led to signal delays ricocheting between earth and space. It caused long pauses in all matters from Internet communications to video conferences. Phone calls too were disturbing. The speakers had to wait for the echoes or long silence gaps to pass before talk could be resumed.

The significant benefit of the new network would be quicker video conferencing vital for long distance training and education. The medical units would be able to send complicated medical information instantly digitally.

The previous satellite network would not be discontinued. The new one has been named TERRA-Southwest. The work was done by United Utilities. The previous one will serve the purpose of a backup if the new one developed hiccups informed General Communications - the parent firm of UUI.

Within few weeks the new system will start running, covering 9,000 houses and about 750 business units together with non-profits and other community groups in regions of Bethel and Dillingham. The new system is being tested with Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. The latter is run by the tribal community and is a health care unit that runs a hospital in Bethel. They also operate many village clinics dotting Southwest Alaska.

Apart from the long fibre optic cable stretched between Homer (tip of Kenai Peninsula) and Bristol Bay village at Levelock, the new system will depend on a string of microwave locations to deliver signals to villages numbering 65 in the regions of Bristol Bay and Yukon-Kuskokwim.

The biggest challenge was the installation of Hardware said David Morris, the spokesperson of GCI. The workers ran these cables through trenches that had been dug out in the ice - something that can be done only in winter; it was necessary to protect the sensitive plants. While crossing the Kvichak River they slashed holes through the thick ice with chainsaw so that diver wearing dry-suit could pass through a line 1,500 feet long through the river.

Helicopters carried equipments to the top of four mountains to set up microwave towers that were 80' high. It is not yet know if the new method will lead to increases in charges.

About the Author

Karen Anne, has been working on ForeclosureListings.com studying the foreclosures market, helping buyers on the finer points of Lincoln Home Foreclosures. Try to visit ForeclosureListings.com and find all related information about Foreclosure Listings.