Coast Guard awards Anchorage firm $2.65 million to extend network to remote radio towers

The Coast Guard has obligated $2,654,944 to Chugach Dynamic Solutions of Anchorage to extend internet-protocol connections, the digital links that move radio traffic, from hubs to remote towers, per the USAspending record. The order runs Sept. 25, 2026, through Sept. 25, 2027, covering Phase IV-V of the R21 Alaska Network Modification. A September 2017 Coast Guard memorandum said funding fell short of the original Alaska requirements, which were deferred, not canceled. Rescue 21 finished in the contiguous states that year.

It is part of Rescue 21 Alaska, a 33-site VHF tower network. A 2021 Inspector General review, OIG-21-65, quoted Coast Guard officials in 2020: "the average availability across all 33 sites was 85 percent, although the availability per site ranged between 26 and 100 percent." The requirement is 98 percent. Multiple sites have been inoperable for long periods since January 2019.

Beyond the upgrade, the Local Notice to Mariners states Western and Northern Alaska have no VHF-FM coverage. The record does not identify which tower sites this phase covers.