GCI parent says it expects to close $310 million Quintillion Arctic fiber purchase soon

GCI expects to close its $310 million purchase of Quintillion's Arctic coast fiber network "shortly," parent company Liberty Capital said Thursday in its third-quarter earnings release. "We expect to close Quintillion soon," CEO Ron Duncan said in the release.

GCI agreed in April to buy Quintillion, which owns the only wired link between Alaska's Arctic coast and the rest of the state. The companies' April announcement cited more than 1,800 miles of existing Quintillion subsea and land fiber plus about 1,500 miles of planned expansion. The network runs from Fairbanks to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, west to Utqiaġvik and Wainwright, then down the coast through Point Hope and Kotzebue to Nome, according to Alaska Communications' petition to the Federal Communications Commission.

Quintillion does not sell internet service to the public. It sells capacity to local internet providers, and GCI is one of them.

Liberty Capital has spent $8 million this year on costs tied to the acquisition. Its cash flow statement also shows a $160 million loan to Quintillion over the past nine months. The loan went to the seller, Q Gateway Ultimate Holdings, under an April credit agreement, according to the company's filing then. It counts toward the purchase price at closing. GCI also agreed to reimburse up to $50 million for the Nome-to-Homer Express subsea cable and may owe later payments tied to Quintillion's revenue.

Closing also depends on finishing a land fiber link between the North Slope and Utqiaġvik, a condition the purchase agreement lets GCI waive. Quintillion's project page schedules the second phase of the 171-mile route for the winter 2027 construction season. The earnings release does not say whether that work is done.

Alaska Communications asked the FCC to block or restrict the sale unless rivals got guaranteed access at regulated prices. The FCC approved the deal with conditions Oct. 20 and denied the petition. Requests for reconsideration or review may be filed through Nov. 19. Satellite internet provider Pacific Dataport took its wholesale price worries to the FCC chairman's office Nov. 3.

In a September filing, GCI and Quintillion pointed to outages caused by sea ice in June 2023 and early 2025. They asked for quick approval so the deal "can be closed with enough time before Alaska winter weather conditions set in" for network changes.

Once the sale closes, GCI is expected to run the combined network and finish Quintillion's grant-funded projects already underway, according to the companies' April announcement.