Nome suffers through another Quintillion fiber optic cable break, causing prolonged internet outage

On Saturday morning, the Quintillion subsea fiberoptic cable broke, leaving Nome and many other western and northwestern Alaska communities without internet. This is the second major network outage due to a subsea cable cut in two years. In June 2023 the cable was cut off Oliktok Point and repairs were not done until September.

This time around, Quintillion initially put out a Facebook post that said the break occurred near Oliktok Point, but later stated that they cannot tell the exact point of the cut. “Winter conditions —sea ice and darkness – have made it impossible to pinpoint an exact location of the cut and the extent of the cable damage,” Mac McHale, Quintillion president, said in a press release. “Unfortunately, the outage will be prolonged, and sea ice will prevent a repair crew and vessel from entering the area and completing a subsea repair until late summer.”

The fiber optic cable network runs from Prudhoe Bay to Nome.

Internet users noticed the outage in the early Saturday morning and via a Facebook post, Quintillion confirmed the break in the cable.

In the afternoon, GCI customers received a message informing customers in Nome, Kotzebue, Wainwright, Point Hope and Utqiagvik that they may experience slower internet speeds and mobile service due to the network outage from Quintillion. GCI reported that mobile calling should still work during the outage.

GCI has since rerouted their service traffic through microwave and satellite networks, placing more users on those systems. Since these systems have different capabilities than fiber optic cables, the speed of services has slowed, GCI Director of Corporate Communications Megan Webb told the Nugget.

“GCI credits for service plans will be automatically applied and no action is needed from customers. Credits may be prorated or partial depending on the service experience or time until restoral,” Webb wrote.

According to Public Affairs Consultant for Quintillion Grace Jang, approximately 20,000 Alaskans use an internet service provider that relies on Quintillion’s network. Those providers are Atlas, ASTAC, ACS, Fastwyre and GCI.

On Sunday, in a press release, Quintillion President Mac McHale stated that because of the ice covering the cable, no repair ship will be able to access and reconnect the cable until ice has cleared. “The outage will be prolonged,” McHale’s statement read.

Quintillion is working with local internet suppliers to find short-term solutions like working with satellite providers, McHale wrote in an email to community stakeholders on Tuesday, January 21.

Also noted in the release was the importance of high-speed internet to U.S. national defense. When asked what national defense assets depend on Quintillion’s subsea cable, Jang wrote Quintillion is not at liberty to disclose the information.

With the prospect of communities facing over six months of internet outages, Quintillion is looking for alternate repair options, including a cable routed on land from Utqiagvik to Deadhorse to mend the network ring. 

The material for the terrestrial cable solution, which Quintillion is calling a “land bridge,” has already been purchased and is in located in Fairbanks.

McHale stated this fix would only be possible with substantial financial assistance from the federal government. 

“To expedite a repair, we will need the full force and support of the incoming Trump Administration, including cutting federal government red tape and eliminating bureaucratic obstacles that will stand between Quintillion and system restoration,” he said.

Nomeites, who weren’t already using them, have begun dusting off their Starlink internet satellites, looking for an alternative to remain connected until the Quintillion cable is repaired again.

Several businesses in town without an alternative internet source have been stalled in operations. The City of Nome is without internet, but phone lines are still functional. “We’ve been doing what we can without, which isn’t very much,” Deputy City Clerk Brad Soske told the Nugget. The city has acquired a Starlink and is working to set it up. The Nome Police Department is also not connected to the internet as of press time.

Nome Public Schools has been experiencing delayed internet usage following the break. The district’s backup satellite system, OneWeb, is not sufficient to manage the full load of all the school’s daily operations so they’re looking to being in additional systems to be installed at each school. This is a particularly difficult time to have slow internet because the district was supposed to start MAP testing across all grades, as scheduled by the state Department of Education. They are working to get an extension on the testing window. 

“We do not have enough bandwidth. Here at the district office we can’t even log into a lot our normal websites,” Superintendent Jamie Burgess said. 

Similarly at Nome Joint Utility offices there is no working internet, but they’re trying to find a solution to get back online, Toni Barron said. Because of the outage the regular NJUS board meeting on Tuesday was cancelled.

Nome stores have learned from the first cable cut in 2023, when customers were only to be able to buy goods with cash as the credit card systems didn’t work. Now, commerce is going on uninterrupted.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported no disruption in weather data reporting from the Nome Airport station, which delivers data hourly.

Some state agencies like the Alaska Job Center are offline, but other state agencies in Nome still have internet capabilities, including Alaska State Troopers, Court System, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game.

Alaska Airlines and Bering Air are online as well.