Sitka, Alaska experienced a significant disruption on Thursday morning as cell and internet services went down. The outage, which began shortly after 11 a.m., continued into Friday afternoon, impacting businesses, medical facilities, and residents. GCI, the primary service provider, acknowledged the issue in a message to customers, stating awareness of the outage affecting internet and TV service in Sitka and Anchorage.
The outage coincided with the arrival of 4,000 cruise ship passengers, forcing many businesses to rely on cash-only transactions. AT&T in Sitka also displayed a “Network down, No ETA” sign on its door. However, not all networks were affected. Sitka City Hall reported their Starlink backup internet service remained operational. Melissa Wileman, the public and government affairs director, confirmed the city’s IT director was in contact with GCI, who are working to restore services.
The Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), the regional medical provider, announced adjustments to services due to the outage. Elective surgeries at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center were canceled, and emergency patients from outside communities were temporarily diverted. However, the emergency room remained open for Sitka residents, along with Urgent Care. Primary care appointments continued, though SEARHC anticipated longer wait times and prioritized filling urgent prescriptions only.
The city’s last major internet outage occurred in 2016, lasting 12 days due to a damaged undersea fiber optic cable, as reported by KCAW. The cause of the current outage remains unclear.
Sitka relies heavily on reliable communication services, and the prolonged outage underscores the vulnerability of communities dependent on a limited number of providers. The economic and logistical impacts are significant, highlighting the importance of robust backup systems and rapid response to network disruptions.
This situation echoes the 2016 incident, raising concerns about the long-term resilience of Sitka’s communication infrastructure. While GCI works to resolve the issue, the community faces ongoing challenges until full service is restored.
