ACS Wireless Upgrade
ACS has upgraded their wireless Internet service to 3G. Now those within range can get download speeds of 500-800 kilobits/sec with higher bursts. This performance is similar to GCN broadband, but is available to many more Gustavus residents. I have heard reports that, with the repeater unit, reception is better than for cell phones, so even if your cell phone does not work at home the wireless Internet service might. Prices are reasonable, from $30-$80/month depending on the data plan chosen and maybe whether it is bundled with voice service. AT&T has not yet upgraded their cellular service in Gustavus, so it continues to deliver dial-up speeds. Other providers like Sprint and Verizon roam through either ACS or AT&T but I do not know which. Details from ACS...
Broadband Plan
Both GCN broadband and ACS 3G service barely qualify as "broadband" today, and the same is true of satellite service from HughesNet and StarBand. Speedtest.net gives all of these a grade of "F." So we need not and should not be satisfied with our current options.
Last October, Gustavus voters voted down a $150,000 wireless broadband network proposal to be funded from the Gustavus Endowment Fund. But in July the State of Alaska granted $235,000 to the City of Gustavus to plan and design a model last-mile community broadband network. The grant will not actually build anything, but it will result in a detailed, funding-ready, well-justified and engineered plan and design that we can use to seek funding for construction in the winter of 2013-2014. That planning effort is now underway, and you can learn all about it and get involved and subscribe to updates by visiting the project's web site.
So we have a new option to keep us connected in the short term, and a concerted effort is underway to plan for the long term.
