Bethel City Manager Pete Williams is introducing an action memorandum to the Bethel City Council that would allow negotiations to execute a contract with Alaska Communications to procure low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet services.
Council members will be taking action on AM 21-21 during their July 27th, 2021 regular meeting.
“Rural Alaska suffers from a lack of available choices and variety,” says the summary statement for AM 21-21. “Often if there is a service or a product offered by a company, they are one of only a few choices if not the only choice. This goes for the same for Internet service providers to which GCI offers only low-latency Internet in Bethel and has for well over the past decade.”
In early 2021, two companies announced that they would be bringing Internet services to Alaska by means of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites that could deliver performance comparable to existing low-latency terrestrial connections, continues the memo.
“These companies were SpaceX and Alaska Communications. With the technology being new and never-before tested, customers were encouraged to sign up well ahead of the services and equipment being available on a first-come first-served basis. This option would be tremendously helpful to all rural Alaska villages and Cities to alleviate the lack of choice or lack of services all together,” says AM 21-21. “The City has the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and be one of the first to test out this new technology, which would be a tremendous help to every City department if the services perform as advertised.”
To not miss out on the window of opportunity, City Manager Pete Williams is electing to waive normal procurement procedures per BMC 4.20.150 and pursue a one-year contract with Alaska Communications immediately, according to the action memo.
“This choice does not exclude any other providers because SpaceX’s product, per their website information, will not be available in Bethel until closer to 2023 whereas Alaska Communications can have the service to the City before 2022. GCI’s current service with the City cannot yet deliver the same performance of these new LEO options,” concludes the memo.
Funding for this project has already been approved in the FY22 budget. The City should be able to start testing by latter Fall 2021.
