Akiak Technology Installs Starlink Internet in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
“We were early adopters with Starlink in rural Alaska. Our discussions with SpaceX helped to launch installation of Starlink satellites for both residential and tribal offices. When it comes to fiber broadband and lack of access, rural Alaska has been forgotten and left behind for too long, and now the region is about to feel a lot closer to the rest of world with Starlink internet.”
Kevin Hamer
CEO
Nine YKD Rural Alaska Native Villages Receive Starlink Internet
Starting August 2024, Akiak Technology LLC, as the prime contractor for the YKD Tribal Broadband Consortium, a 503(c) Non-profit, will install over 1,200 residential and tribal offices with Starlink satellite. The initiative is part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) to support Tribal governments to bring high-speed internet to Tribal lands. The project will take approximately two years to complete and include tribal library grant seeking support services for Tribal offices under the FCC’s E-Rate program.
The installations will include:
- Asa’carasamiut (Mt. Village)
- Kasigluk
- Toksook Bay
- Chefornak
- Hooper Bay
- Tuuntutuliak
- Quinhagak
- Pilot Station
- Chauthbaluk
About the lack of broadband in the YKD
Over 6,106 unserved people across 1,405 households, approximately 50% of which live below 150 percent of the federal poverty line, will be connected to Starlink broadband providing expected residential download/upload speeds up to 100/15 Mbps.
The service areas of our 9 Tribes collectively represent 23% of the entire YKD unserved population, divided between 21% of the Bethel Census Area and 27% of the Kusilvak Census Area populations. The YKD is the second largest unserved area in America and largest unserved indigenous and general populations in Alaska.
On or before the end of the project, ownership of all equipment purchased and installed, plus three months of free service, in the nine villages will be transferred to the Tribal governments. This will increase Tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and sustainability for the deployed Starlink broadband infrastructure.
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