Alaska Communications presses FCC to block or condition GCI-Quintillion sale

Alaska Communications is asking the Federal Communications Commission to block GCI's purchase of Quintillion unless rival carriers get guaranteed access to Quintillion's network at prices GCI cannot set alone. GCI announced the deal in April at $310 million in enterprise value, subject to adjustments, plus up to $50 million to reimburse spending on Quintillion's Nome-to-Homer Express and possible later earnout payments. Quintillion's undersea fiber links Oliktok Point, near Prudhoe Bay, with Utqiaġvik, Wainwright, Point Hope, Kotzebue and Nome.

Alaska Communications buys capacity from both companies and competes with GCI for retail customers. It says one owner could raise wholesale prices for rivals and would have no reason to extend Alaska Communications' 10-year Quintillion contract, which ends at the end of 2027. GCI and Quintillion call the requested conditions "unprecedented and unlawful" and want approval "without conditions."

The application, filed May 19, 2026, was listed as "Pending Review" on Oct. 5. It would transfer control of Quintillion Subsea Operations, which holds the subsea cable license, from an investment vehicle managed by Grain Management to GCI Holdings of Anchorage.

Both sides have met FCC staff separately. Alaska Communications has proposed arrangements totaling up to $75 million over 20 years for guaranteed access.

The opposition filing

Alaska Communications filed its opposition July 16. It argues GCI already dominates "middle mile" transport between Alaska's hub cities and rural communities, and that Quintillion, a primarily wholesale provider, gives competitors a way to reach the region.

Citing a sworn declaration by Dale Knipp, Alaska Communications' chief revenue officer, the petition says 1 Mbps on GCI's TERRA microwave network in western Alaska costs $6,566 a month on a three-year contract, roughly what Alaska Communications pays for 200 Mbps on subsea fiber in Southeast. It says a Bethel hospital could buy the same service directly from GCI for $6,156 a month, less than GCI charges Alaska Communications for the wholesale input. GCI disputes the conclusions drawn from those figures.

The petition first sought a 10-year right to use a single strand of unused fiber, known as dark fiber, on the Prudhoe Bay to Nome cable. It also sought common-carrier regulation of the combined network under Sections 201 and 202 of the Communications Act, which require just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates.

GCI and Quintillion replied Aug. 4 that the two fiber networks do not overlap today and will touch only at Emmonak and Igiugig after planned construction. They called TERRA microwave a complement to Quintillion's fiber and pointed to low Earth orbit satellite service as a growing alternative. They said the Justice Department's Antitrust Division let its review period expire without a second request and that the Alaska attorney general reviewed the deal without acting.

GCI says its purchase agreement requires it to extend existing Quintillion contracts on the same terms and prices, "as adjusted upwards for reasonable and verifiable changes in Purchaser costs of operating" the network. Alaska Communications says that would let GCI raise rates to recover what it paid.

Meetings with FCC staff

On Aug. 26, Alaska Communications' then-president and CEO, Paul Fenaroli, and other executives met FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and two of his advisers, according to the company's disclosure.

The FCC's Office of International Affairs adopted a protective order, which lets companies file confidential material in the case, on Sept. 14. That day GCI filed a partly redacted letter saying Starlink has taken GCI customers in outlying villages beyond its cable-served areas in Nome, Kotzebue and Bethel. The customer-loss figures are blacked out. The letter says the acquisition "is critical to enabling GCI's services to compete" with satellite service.

The letter also calls the fiber-strand request technically impossible. According to GCI and Quintillion, the cable has three fiber pairs: one serves Utqiaġvik, Wainwright, Point Hope and Kotzebue, and two run express between Oliktok Point and Nome. GCI notes Alaska Communications has run Quintillion's network operations center under contract since 2017.

In a Sept. 21 letter to GCI and Quintillion, Alaska Communications said it "now recognize[s]" that dark-fiber divestiture on the Prudhoe Bay to Nome cable "is not technically feasible." It proposed paying $250,000 a month for 400 Gbps between Deadhorse and Nome, with access at every landing point, for five years plus three five-year renewals, or $60 million over 20 years if all the renewals were exercised at that rate. It also offered $15 million for a 20-year dark-fiber right of use on the Nome-to-Homer Express, Quintillion's extension now under construction.

Quintillion president Mac McHale had written that he "cannot commit Quintillion to an arrangement that assumes or depends upon the combined assets or network of Quintillion and GCI," terms that "would need to be addressed in the context of the transaction." Knipp and McHale met in person Sept. 15.

GCI and Quintillion executives met FCC staff Sept. 16 and Sept. 18 to discuss "potential paths to the expeditious approval of the transaction." Alaska Communications met staff Sept. 23 and says it repeated its request for common-carrier service on the subsea system.

In a Sept. 25 filing, Alaska Communications said that by its calculation, GCI's share of Alaska's Rural Health Care program funding topped 90% in funding year 2026, against its own 7%. It said GCI's share in the North Slope Borough, where Quintillion offers a second route, fell from nearly 100% in 2024 to 65% in 2025. It says Quintillion capacity helped it win contracts serving Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital in Utqiaġvik at lower prices than the hospital had paid GCI.

At staff's request, both sides listed communities both networks serve or will serve. They agree on Kotzebue, Nome, Emmonak, Hooper Bay, Naknek and Igiugig. In an Oct. 2 filing, GCI and Quintillion added Alakanuk, Nunam Iqua, Scammon Bay and Chevak. They say 11 communities on Alaska Communications' list, including Bethel and Dillingham, should come off because Quintillion did not receive grant funding to reach them.

What happens next

The FCC's public notice, released July 20, describes a normal 90-day review period, with room for more time. The application remained under review on Oct. 5.

GCI's parent company said in August that it expects the deal to close in 2026, and GCI has asked for quick approval so network work can be done before winter. Closing also requires, among other conditions, that Quintillion's land link to Utqiaġvik be completed and ready for commercial service. Either side may end the agreement 18 months after the April 21 signing, subject to conditions. GCI also agreed to lend the seller $160 million shortly after signing, to be credited toward the purchase price at closing, according to its SEC filing.

The application and filings are posted under FCC file SCL-T/C-20260504-00065.