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The FCC’s newest commissioner recently got a firsthand look at how broadband is transforming lives in rural Alaska.
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
The newest seated member on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently spent time talking to stakeholders in Alaska’s ambitious rural broadband buildout.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty, who was confirmed as an FCC commissioner in June, announced the results of her trip, which began in Bethel and Eek, before venturing to the Kenai Peninsula.
“Broadband connectivity is a game-changer in rural America,” Trusty said, in a statement about the trip. “Nowhere is the challenge of expanding broadband access more acute than in Alaska, where rugged terrain and vast distances make it both difficult and expensive to connect remote villages.”
On the first leg of her trip, in Bethel and Eek, Trusty visited the Ayaprun Elitnaurvik Cultural School and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, a Monday release from her office stated.
She also toured wireless infrastructure sites, according to the announcement.
Meanwhile, on the Kenai Peninsula, Trusty toured the Central Peninsula Hospital and met with both U.S. senators from Alaska.
At the hospital, Trusty observed how federal funding supports rural health services before traveling to Wasilla.
In Wasilla, the commissioner “met with voice and internet service providers from across Alaska and observed fiber deployment projects in the area,” the release stated.
Trusty tours subsea cable landing station
The trip also took Trusty to Juneau, where she met with the governor, the Alaska Municipal League.
Trusty also toured a subsea cable landing station in the community, according to her office.
“I am grateful for the hospitality of the Alaska Congressional Delegation as well as state, local, and Tribal leaders, who are fierce advocates for expanding opportunity across Alaska, and for the warm welcome I received from every Alaskan I met,” Trusty said, through the release detailing her trip. “While Alaska remains one of the most challenging places in the country to close the digital divide, I look forward to working with my colleagues at the FCC to ensure that Alaskans have the same opportunity as all Americans to participate in the 21st Century digital economy.”
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