Region receives more than $73 million for fiber broadband service through two federal grants

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Affordable, reliable, high-speed internet is coming to Western Alaska! Bethel Native Corporation (BNC), in partnership with GCI, Alaska's largest telecommunications company, today announced the launch of a partnership to bring fiber-optic connectivity to Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The project will bring 2 gigabit internet speeds and affordable plans to more than 10,000 Alaskans.

At an event held in Anchorage at the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Indigenous Peoples' Day, the partners announced more than $73 million in broadband grants recently awarded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) and the USDA's Rural Utilities Service ReConnect program.

The partners announced the new project name, the Airraq Network (pronounced EYE-huck). Airraq, a traditional Yup'ik game similar to cat's cradle, translates to "string that tells the story."