GCI (company)

General Communication Inc. (GCI) is a telecommunications corporation operating in Alaska. Through its own facilities and agreements with other providers, GCI provides cable television service, Internet access, and Wireline (networking) and cellular telephone service.

GCI was founded in 1979 by Ron Duncan and Bob Walp. On November 10, 2005, the company reported third-quarter profits of $2.3 million, down from $9.3 million during the same three months of 2004.

Based in Anchorage, GCI provides cable television service to approximately three-quarters of Alaska residents. [1] GCI has upgraded most of its network to support digital cable broadcasts and provides high-definition broadcasts in some of the state's larger cities. [2] GCI leases an array of analog and digital cable boxes, including HD and DVR digital cable boxes, to its customers. In 2008, GCI discontinued analog cable service to Anchorage residences, moving to a fully digital platform.

GCI also provides content to the state-operated Alaska Rural Communications Service satellite system, which in turn provides free over-the-air broadcasts of commercial and public television programs to 235 rural Alaskan communities. [3]

On November 9, 2012, GCI announced plans to purchase KTVA, a CBS-affiliated television station in Anchorage, along with KATH-LD and KSCT-LP, the NBC-affiliated stations in Southeast Alaska. On December 9, 2013, GCI filed to acquire the CBS affiliates in Southeast Alaska—KXLJ-LD in Juneau, KTNL-TV in Sitka, and KUBD in Ketchikan.

GCI provides access to the Internet via multiple means. As of January 2015, GCI provides cable modem services in major cities in Alaska with download speeds up to 250 megabits per second or Mbps(re:D Plan). In mid 2015 GCI will be deploying its fiber re:D network in the Anchorage area first, with download speeds up to 1 gigabit per second(1,000Mbit/s). To start that campaign, GCI has increased its highest home internet plan (re:D) from 50MMbps to 100Mbit/s and then to 250Mbit/s for free in all available areas that has access to the re:D plan. The re:D plan is currently to this date $174.99 and when the re:D 1Gbit/s Fiber network launches, the price will remain the same. In the rural cities of Nome, Cordova, Bethel, and Barrow, GCI provides high-speed cable modem services but uses a satellite for the backhaul connection, as the cost to lay cable to these remote areas is prohibitively expensive. [4] In some rural communities where GCI does not have a cable TV infrastructure, it provides lower-bandwidth (56-512 kbit/s) wireless Internet access over a satellite backhaul. [5]