GCI partners with Ericsson to turn up 5G sites in Alaska

It’s official—5G has arrived in Alaska! In partnership with industry leader Ericsson, GCI has turned up the first 5G cell sites in Anchorage, becoming the northernmost 5G wireless carrier in the nation.

“In June of 2019, we committed to launching 5G service in the spring of 2020. I am proud to announce today that we have delivered on that commitment,” said GCI CEO and Co-Founder Ron Duncan. “We have upgraded our wireless core, and we intend to upgrade the vast majority of cell sites in Anchorage, Eagle River and Girdwood to our 5-band 5G NR solution by the end of the year. At that point, we will have created essentially a brand-new wireless network in Anchorage, comparable in quality and performance to our industry-leading cable modem network.”

Having met the 5G service launch commitment, GCI is directing all its efforts to completing its 2020 cell site upgrade plan. It is working shoulder to shoulder with Ericsson to drive the cell site upgrades throughout Anchorage. 

“We’re proud to partner with GCI to deploy 5G in Anchorage to give Alaskans the network quality and speed they want and need,” said Rob Johnson, Head of Customer Unit Regional Carriers for Ericsson North America. “Ericsson and GCI have had a long-standing partnership to connect customers in some of the most remote communities in Alaska, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with GCI to turn the Last Frontier into the First Frontier for 5G.”

Read the full announcement here.