In May, residents of Bethel began to tap into fiber internet speeds on par with Anchorage for the first time ever as part of the launch of the AIRRAQ network, a partnership between communications provider GCI and Bethel Native Corporation.
On June 3, leaders on both the tribal and private sides of AIRRAQ made the launch of the fiber-optic network official in an event held in Bethel at the Association of Village Council Presidents, Regional Housing Authority building. Dozens of attendees were greeted with new AIRRAQ swag in the form of pompoms, fiber-optic light sticks, ulu-shaped pizza cutters, and strings for use in the Yup’ik storytelling game the network is named after.
When it was her turn to speak, Bethel Native Corporation President and CEO Ana Hoffman explained the significance of another piece of swag: AIRRAQ t-shirts emblazoned with the words, “Tua-i Digital Divide!”
"In Yup’ik, our translation for tua-i is 'no more,' no more digital divide," Hoffman said. "[For] bye, bye, our Yup’ik word is piura. It's 'be well.' But we are saying tua-i to the digital divide," Hoffman said.
Many homes and commercial buildings in Bethel already have the infrastructure in place to make the switch to fiber internet at speeds as high as 2.5 gigabits per second, but technicians are still working to connect up more.
Hoffman’s own home on the Bethel riverfront was one of those that needed upgraded wiring. She recounted the moment her family realized their connectivity had drastically increased, as ice chunks floated by on the recently broken up Kuskokwim River.
"My son, standing near the windows taking videos of the Kuskokwim River, declared, 'So fast.'" Hoffman said. "In response, my husband, Stosh, asked, “The river?” Avery answered, 'No, the internet.'"
Bethel only the beginning
Bethel is the first of 13 communities across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta that the AIRRAQ network aims to connect up over the next couple of years, using around 900 miles of fiber-optic cables and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants.
The fiber that currently serves Bethel connects into existing networks through Bristol Bay, to the southeast. On its way, it snakes along the seafloor, over the tundra, and across the Kuskokwim River, passing through Platinum, Eek, Napaskiak, and Oscarville. By the end of 2025, those communities are next in line to access the urban speeds and pricing that AIRRAQ has promised since its inception.
In her speech on June 3, Hoffman praised the leadership of her AIRRAQ counterpart, GCI President and Chief Operating Officer Greg Chapados. In his speech, Chapados returned the favor, thanking Hoffman for her yearslong efforts securing tribal consents and referring to her as a "one-woman army.” But Chapados also gave a nod to the massive federal broadband funding kickstarted under the Biden administration, much of which could face an uncertain future.
"These federal programs have opened the door for us to invest in a way in rural Alaska that we never thought we'd be able to do, to bring technology like fiber, like 5G wireless out to rural Alaska," Chapados said. "You know, without those programs, and I'm grateful for those programs, we wouldn't be here today."
If all goes as planned, the AIRRAQ network will reach Emmonak at the mouth of the Yukon River at some point in 2027. From there, Chapados said that the goal is to connect into subsea cables that would ultimately form a massive fiber-optic ring around Alaska not prone to single points of failure. He said that Bethel is only the beginning.
