Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
Late last year, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr got an "earful" from remote Alaskan residents who were concerned with how poor their access to the internet is — and they weren't wrong. Alaska has, on average, some of the slowest internet connections in the country, primarily due to its distance from the rest of the continental United States.
But remote Alaskans may see faster speeds soon. MTA Fiber Holdings announced today that it would build the "first and only all-terrestrial" fiber optic network running from Alaska and into the Lower 48. The line will begin in North Pole, Alaska and will travel through Canada, connecting with Canadian carriers, where it will finally connect with "any major hub" in the US. A vast majority of Alaska's current connections to the global internet either run through a handful of submarine cables, satellites, or wireless connections.
"This is a major step for Alaska that will ensure future capacity requirements for MTA members and can support the continuing growth of broadband across the state of Alaska," MTA CEO Michael Burke said in a statement.
According to the press release, only internet traffic that both originates and terminates in the US will be carried over the network.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 03 2019, @10:17PM (1 child)
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/perils-prohibition-look-alaskas-failed-war-booze-part-i/2013/09/04/ [adn.com]
Seeing the state's relationship with booze, I'm sure the 2014 legalization of cannabis is being implemented slowly on the local level. They should fix that and see if it helps.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday May 03 2019, @10:33PM
The biggest thing stopping the cannabis legalization was Alaskans being unwilling to forgive prior convictions. The general opinion I found from asking people was "when they did it it was still illegal, so they have to serve their time" and because it was included as a part of every legalization legislation the voters kept turning it down.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam