"Lou Judice, 908-562-4103 <judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com> (09/13/90)
I recently took a vacation in Alaska (mostly the interior areas), and was fascinated by the question of how telecom services are provided there. For example, 60 miles north of the Artic Circle, in Coldfoot, AK, we were able to make AT&T credit card calls on any of the two or three phones located in this town/truckstop of 23 residents. The only seemingly possible means of communication with the outside would be satellite (there were crude downlinks in the town) or possibly sharing the Alaska Pipeline microwave system? At any rate it was pretty amazing to be WELL past the middle of nowhere and be able to make phone calls to our heart's content. In the cities (Fairbanks and Anchorage) it appeared as though the local telcos were municipal utilties. One odd thing - the phone book contained (in both cities) a two page set of instructions on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack - something I can't remember seeing in a while. As a former RCA-er, I know that Alaskcom, the long distance carrier in Alaska was formerly part of that great old company. I seem to recall it being sold to a west coast power utility in the early 1980's. Lou
roy@cs.umn.edu (Roy M. Silvernail) (09/14/90)
judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com (Lou Judice, 908-562-4103) writes: > For example, 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in Coldfoot, AK, we > were able to make AT&T credit card calls on any of the two or three > phones located in this town/truckstop of 23 residents. The only > seemingly possible means of communication with the outside would be > satellite (there were crude downlinks in the town) or possibly sharing > the Alaska Pipeline microwave system? Satellite, it is. During the heyday of oil wealth in Alaska, nearly every village got a small earth station. I'd hesitate to call them crude, as well. They are small-dish sites, but very capable. The state distributes entertainment TV to the villages over them, as well as telephone and datalink services. (before the oil crash, the state ran 2 seperate channels, one dedicated to education. budget cuts forced one of the channels to be cut ... care to guess which one? :-( ) > In the cities (Fairbanks and Anchorage) it appeared as though the > local telcos were municipal utilties. I believe only Anchorage is municipally owned. There was a great big stink last year when the Mayor tried to strongarm the city into selling Anchorage Telephone Utility to Pacific Tel. The Mayor claimed that selling the utility was a Good Thing, and that there would be dozens of offers. When the bids closed, only one company had bid at all (Pacific Tel), and they bid just over the minimum. The Municipal Assembly forced a ballot initiative, and then ensued one of the biggest PR whitewashes I have ever seen. Pacific Tel spent over a million dollars in advertising and promotion to try and get the sale approved. They failed, but I'm sure the Mayor will try again. (he sees selling the city's assets as a quick fix for their cash-flow problems.) > As a former RCA-er, I know that Alaskcom, the long distance carrier in > Alaska was formerly part of that great old company. I seem to recall > it being sold to a west coast power utility in the early 1980's. 'Twas 1978, and the buyer was Pacific Tel ... in fact, PT owns something like 67% of the telephone service providers in Alaska, including Alascom and Alaskanet. That was part of the concern over PT obtaining ATU. It would have increased their control to over 80%. Still, Alaska's telephone service is a far cry from what it was when I first arrived there in 1970. Back then, all long-distance was carried on the White Alice Communications System, which was run by the Army. In the early 70's, WACS was sold to RCA and became RCA Alascom, but it still operated over ancient Tropo Scatter microwave links. Satellite links were placed in the major cities by about 1976, and the oil boom extended the satellite coverage through the early 80's. Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu
crawford@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Brian Crawford) (09/18/90)
In article <12106@accuvax.nwu.edu>, judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com (Lou Judice) writes: > I recently took a vacation in Alaska (mostly the interior areas), and > was fascinated by the question of how telecom services are provided > there. Just happened to go there myself: Attended High School in Wasilla during the late 70's / early 80's. > In the cities (Fairbanks and Anchorage) it appeared as though the > local telcos were municipal utilties. One odd thing - the phone book > contained (in both cities) a two page set of instructions on what to > do in the event of a nuclear attack - something I can't remember > seeing in a while. Don't suppose the Anchorage Telephone Utility is still charging ten cents for a pay phone call, are they? They were still that low long before the 'lower 48' went to 25 cents in most places! If I remember correctly, my CO, Matanuska Telephone, was considered <ahem> a "Non-Profit Organization" > As a former RCA-er, I know that Alaskcom, the long distance carrier in > Alaska was formerly part of that great old company. I seem to recall > it being sold to a west coast power utility in the early 1980's. Yep. PP&L bought them out in 1980. Recently, Gencom (or something else, I can't remember the exact name) took Alaskcom to court over getting the right to offer long distance service per equal access and won. Phone service up there was always a little unique and was somewhat different than the Bell System before the diversture. They leased an entire RCA F# satellite back then. First it was F1 I think just after RCA F2 was first launched. It's been a long time. One benefit to Alaskans of this was all U of Alaska campuses and community colleges had email ties to each other for student use way back then, before these networks really hit it big. Brian
) (09/18/90)
The Alaskans use a RCA satellite all to themselves. It's Called Aurora
F5 (or it could also be called SATCOM F5). It can only be seen in the
Western US because it's so far West so it could be picked up in
Alaska.
Mike Jezierski IWNQ500@INDYVAX.BITNET IWNQ500@INDYVAX.IUPUI.EDU
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
This is my view because this this place won't pay me enough for my opinions