Satellite services are routinely used after natural disasters and fiber breaks.
What would have happened in Utqiagvik after the recent fire shut down a portion of the community’s broadband service without satellite? Or Japan after the New Year’s Day earthquake? Or last summer’s fiber break that shut down all broadband across the North Slope down to Nome? Or Tonga after the earthquake caused a fiber break and total loss of communications? Or after Hurricane Maria shut down the entire cellular network in Puerto Rico? Or, most recently, four fiber cables in the Red Sea cut all at once.
Currently, Alaska’s fiber communications infrastructure is susceptible to icescouring,weather-related damage, earthquakes and more. Fiber cables are not bulletproof. The state of Alaska must acknowledge the need to diversify communications and ensure that when essential networks fail, rural Alaska residents will be able to communicate during disaster mitigation, response, and recovery.
Is there a statewide plan for emergency response to restore critical communications? The simple answer is no. Let’s tackle this issue right now, while we have federal funding.
— Chuck Schumann
CEO, Pacific Dataport Inc.
Anchorage
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