remote communities and on 13 vessels off the coast of Alaska.
I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and what it will
mean to these Alaska communities and beyond.
Now, we’re onto the rest of the proj-
ect. The ultimate plan is to link Europe
and Asia by way of Quintillion’s U.S. Arc-
tic network. Phase II will head west from
Alaska to Asia to offer a critically needed
diverse, redundant communication route
at speeds faster than existing transmission
rates, particularly for Alaska, which cur-
rently lacks diverse telecommunications
out of the state. Phase III will head east
from Alaska connecting to Canada and on
to Western Europe, offering the ability to
deliver broadband capacity between the
Pacific Rim and Europe. This will connect
key financial centers and business sectors,
significantly enhance connectivity speeds
between key global financial centers, and
provide needed redundant and diverse
communication networks to the U.S. from
the Arctic.
Going forward, we expect there will
be opportunities to attract outside invest-
ment. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) wrote
in a January 2018 e-newsletter, “Recent
technological investments across our state — particularly in
our telecommunications industry — have the potential to turn
Alaska into a global tech corridor.” I couldn’t agree more.
I read with interest when Norway recently announced it
will build the world’s largest data center, Kolos, located north
of the Arctic Circle. According to the Kolos website, the cold
climate provides natural cooling and access to renewable pow-
er - significant factors in allowing the data center to operate at
a 60% reduction in energy costs. The average annual tem-
perature range in Utqiagvik, Alaska, on Quintillion’s network
is -19° to 47°F. I’d say there are plenty of natural cooling and
low-cost energy sources in this environment.
Quintillion’s faster connection will be attractive to oper-
ators of data centers that store and send
information for online retailers, social me-
dia platforms, and all those devices that
connect to the internet. Our state has a
favorable business environment and a vast
supply of land and energy. Then there’s the
global race to build cable systems through
the Arctic. Future subsea cables that cross
the Arctic would be well served to con-
nect at an international meet-me point,
potentially in the U.S. Arctic. Our system
is scalable, allowing it to meet future de-
mands on an almost limitless basis.
Of course, there are strategic and
national security implications in a world
that is ever evolving and the geographic
proximity over Quintillion’s infrastruc-
ture to both allies and potential threats to
international peace and stability. An in-
creasing amount of political attention and
monetary support is directed at Alaska’s
Arctic, as evidenced by the 2018 National
Defense Authorization Act, which directs
more than $300 million to Alaska’s mis-
sile-defense and national security preparedness.
While the market in Alaska’s communities was beyond
ready for investment in a world-class fiber optic network, we
are equally excited about the prospects of expanding our net-
work footprint, services and infrastructure to deliver a unique
b