Alaskan telco GCI is deploying Starlink satellite gateways to provide Internet services to customers.

The company this month announced it would be using Starlink’s dedicated service with bonded gateways to deliver resilient, reliable connectivity to thousands of customers across several major community hubs, including Bethel, Sitka, Kotzebue, and Dillingham.

“We have long said it takes every tool in our toolkit to serve a state like Alaska,” said Billy Wailand, SVP of corporate development at GCI.

“With the addition of Starlink’s industry‑leading bonded gateway capabilities, powered by low-Earth orbit satellites, we are adding a valuable new layer of resiliency that complements our existing fiber, microwave, and satellite infrastructure. This agreement strengthens our ability to keep Alaskans connected when it matters most.”

Founded in 1979, GCI is a subsidiary of Liberty Broadband and is Alaska's biggest communications provider. GCI provides data, mobile, voice, and managed services to consumer, business, government, and carrier customers throughout Alaska.

Starlink’s bonded gateway (formerly community gateway) service offers Internet transit to other Internet Service Providers, providing “fiber-like speeds” to communities.

The satellite firm says the service, which requires at least four radome-clad antennae, offers speeds of up to 10Gbps up and down, with up to 20Gbps for larger numbers of antennas.

Now unlisted, prices for the gateways have previously started at $75,000/Gbps per month with a one-time upfront cost of $1.25 million.

Starlink first deployed a community gateway to the island of Unalaska, Alaska, for local provider OptimERA xG.

Broadband Systems Corporation of Rwanda, Kativik Regional Government of northern Canada, Tuvalu Telecom, Nauru’s Telikom (aka Neotel), Kiribati’s BNL, FSM Telecom in Micronesia, Corporación de Telecomunicaciones (CNT) in Ecuador, and Telkom Indonesia on the island of New Guinea have also deployed Starlink community gateways.