From the Arctic’s Melting Ice, an Unexpected Digital Hub
- 6 years ago
From the Arctic’s Melting Ice, an Unexpected Digital Hub
“The trigger to all of this is lower-cost broadband
that will bring a whole new economy and hope to places like Point Hope,” said Jens Laipenieks, president of the Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative.
This is not our way of life.”
But interviews with dozens of Point Hope residents suggest
that people here see Quintillion’s cable as a way of connecting with an outside world that has long been beyond easy reach — and something that could change their lives for the better.
But in a surprising, and bittersweet, side effect of global warming —
and of the global economy — one of the fastest internet connections in America is arriving in Point Hope, giving the 700 or so residents their first taste of broadband speed.
POINT HOPE, Alaska — This is one of the most remote towns in the United States, a small
gravel spit on the northwest coast of Alaska, more than 3,700 miles from New York City.
Quintillion is one of the companies laying the new cable, and Point Hope is one of the places along its route.
Last month, about 25 residents, including the mayor, gathered at City Hall
and talked about how internet service could turn Point Hope, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America, into a tourist destination with a museum with interactive displays and a website.
But as the ice has receded, new passageways have emerged, creating a more direct path for the cable — over the
earth’s northern end through places like the Chukchi Sea — and helping those emails move even move quickly.
“The trigger to all of this is lower-cost broadband
that will bring a whole new economy and hope to places like Point Hope,” said Jens Laipenieks, president of the Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative.
This is not our way of life.”
But interviews with dozens of Point Hope residents suggest
that people here see Quintillion’s cable as a way of connecting with an outside world that has long been beyond easy reach — and something that could change their lives for the better.
But in a surprising, and bittersweet, side effect of global warming —
and of the global economy — one of the fastest internet connections in America is arriving in Point Hope, giving the 700 or so residents their first taste of broadband speed.
POINT HOPE, Alaska — This is one of the most remote towns in the United States, a small
gravel spit on the northwest coast of Alaska, more than 3,700 miles from New York City.
Quintillion is one of the companies laying the new cable, and Point Hope is one of the places along its route.
Last month, about 25 residents, including the mayor, gathered at City Hall
and talked about how internet service could turn Point Hope, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America, into a tourist destination with a museum with interactive displays and a website.
But as the ice has receded, new passageways have emerged, creating a more direct path for the cable — over the
earth’s northern end through places like the Chukchi Sea — and helping those emails move even move quickly.