ASTAC asks state for 3 more miles for Anaktuvuk Pass fiber line, now planned for 2028

The Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative has asked the state to add about three miles to its easement for a fiber optic cable to Anaktuvuk Pass. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources opened public comment on the request Thursday, according to the public notice. The change would raise the line's crossing of state land from 49 miles to 52. The added land, about 2 miles north of Toolik Lake, belonged to the Bureau of Land Management when the cooperative first applied. It was recently conveyed to the state.

ASTAC now plans to lay the cable from January to March 2028 and seat it on the tundra that August, pending permits, according to its November development plan. Crews would lay it on the snow-covered tundra in winter, generally along the Community Winter Access Trail, starting from Toolik Field Station. The plan does not say when service would begin.

When ASTAC announced a $31 million federal broadband grant for Anaktuvuk Pass and Point Lay on Sept. 22, 2022, it projected service by mid-2025, at speeds of at least 100 Mbps for roughly 261 homes, businesses and anchor institutions. ASTAC's website now offers Anaktuvuk Pass plans of up to 10 Mbps for $79.99 a month and up to 25 Mbps for $109.99. Fiber-served communities such as Utqiagvik and Point Hope have plans up to 1 Gig.

The roughly 90-mile route also crosses federal and Native corporation land. The Bureau of Land Management's online register lists its environmental assessment for the cable as cancelled and gives no reason. ASTAC's new plan still lists the federal right-of-way as in progress.

ASTAC's separate Nuiqsut fiber line is further along. The cooperative said Sept. 11 that the Nuiqsut project received a federal finding of no significant impact and that its $25 million grant was released July 2. For Anaktuvuk Pass, it reported no such finding or release of funds.

The state approved the 49-mile easement Dec. 18, 2024, after a month of notice drew no public comments, according to DNR's decision. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had no objection but raised concerns about wildlife and snow machine entanglement and animals chewing through the cable.

ASTAC's plan says it dropped utility poles because Anaktuvuk Pass objected to how they would look on the tundra. It says some residents are concerned about caribou migration routes, and that subsistence hunting was raised in meetings, particularly potential helicopter use. ASTAC says it does not expect impacts on hunting because construction is planned for winter.

Written comments on the expanded easement are due to the Division of Mining, Land and Water in Fairbanks by 5 pm Dec. 7.