Anaktuvuk Pass
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North Slope co-op plans to lay Anaktuvuk Pass fiber across the snow in 2028
The state opened public comment Thursday on the North Slope phone cooperative's request for about three more miles of right-of-way for a fiber optic cable to Anaktuvuk Pass, a line the cooperative now plans to unspool across the snow in early 2028.
The Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative, or ASTAC, wants to add land about 2 miles north of Toolik Lake, off mile 284.5 of the Dalton Highway, near the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Toolik Field Station. The Bureau of Land Management owned that land when ASTAC first applied, and it was recently conveyed to the state, according to the Department of Natural Resources' public notice. Comments are due by 5 pm Dec. 7.
Anaktuvuk Pass, a Brooks Range village of about 400 people inside Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, isn't connected to Alaska's road system. When ASTAC won a $31 million federal grant in 2022 for broadband projects there and in Point Lay, it said the village had traditionally relied on satellite internet, which it described as expensive and limited. It projected service by mid-2025, at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second.
Today, ASTAC's fastest residential plan in Anaktuvuk Pass offers typical downloads of 25 megabits per second for $109.99 a month. In Utqiagvik and Point Hope, which are connected to fiber, its plans go up to 1 gigabit.
ASTAC's new development plan lays out how the cable would get to the village. Pending permits, crews would bring in equipment in summer 2027 and pack snow along the North Slope's Community Winter Access Trail that November. In January 2028, depending on ground conditions, they would start west from Toolik Field Station, generally following the trail for roughly 90 miles to Anaktuvuk Pass. The plan doesn't say when service would begin.
Low ground pressure vehicles such as Pisten Bully Sno-Cats would haul the crews, sleigh-mounted camps, fuel and 15 spools of cable, each holding six miles and weighing up to 10,000 pounds. A powered spooler would pay the cable out onto the packed snow as workers guide it by hand, about two to three miles a day. The work could use up to 20,000 gallons of diesel.
The armored cable, half an inch to an inch thick, carries 48 strands of optical fiber and can be deployed as deep as 10,000 feet underwater.
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Stories on what’s next
Gates of the Arctic National Park Off-Road Vehicle Rule – Public Comment Period Closes
Park Service proposes ATV access across Gates of the Arctic for Anaktuvuk Pass residents
Anaktuvuk Pass hunters could drive off-road vehicles across Gates of the Arctic under a proposed rule ending a 1986 ban rooted in dictionary definitions.
Latest
October 2026
State proposes five snowmachine trails near Wiseman after Dalton corridor transfer
The state proposes five snowmachine trails near Wiseman, part of its promise after subsistence users lost their federal priority in the Dalton corridor.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
September 2026
A bill would guarantee vehicle access for the village inside Gates of the Arctic
A national park was drawn around Anaktuvuk Pass in 1980 without asking. A bill would guarantee the village the right to drive out and go hunting.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom 
August 2026
Snow expected tonight at Atigun Pass, the high point of the Dalton Highway
Snow is expected at Atigun Pass tonight, 1 to 3 inches, with 3 to 6 inches on the peaks. BLM says storms drop snow there even in June and July.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
July 2026
On the roadless North Slope, the villages' winter road is made of snow
On the roadless North Slope, a snow trail is how cut-off villages get winter fuel. A Native-owned company builds it — across fragile tundra and caribou country.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
June 2026
Winter Weather Advisory Issued for Central Brooks Range through Monday
Surprise Surprise, more snow in the Arctic
by Maggie AlaskaNews5mo ago1 min read
Coming up
ADL 422366 Amendment Public Comment Deadline
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water, 3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks, AK 99709
Public notice
Public Comment Period: Arctic Slope Telephone Association Fiber Optic Easement Amendment
Public notice
Comments close: Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve; Use of Off-Road Vehicles for Subsistence Purposes by Residents of Anaktuvuk Pass
Public notice
Public Comment Deadline: Gates of the Arctic National Park ORV Subsistence Use Proposed Rule
Public notice
Gates of the Arctic National Park Off-Road Vehicle Rule – Public Comment Period Closes
Public notice
About Anaktuvuk Pass
Anaktuvuk Pass, also known as Anaqtuuvak, is a Nunamiut Iñupiaq village in the North Slope Borough, set inland in the central Brooks Range. It lies within Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and is the only Iñupiaq community on the North Slope located away from the coast.
Because the national park surrounds the village, its residents' right to drive off-road vehicles across park land to hunt caribou and reach subsistence areas is a recurring question, taken up both by the Park Service and in Congress. The village has no road connection, and winter weather in the central Brooks Range shapes travel and supply.